Editorial on China's document on raising farmers' income

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, February 09, 2004

Editorial on China's document on raising farmers' income

The People's Daily publishes an editorial Monday, Feb. 9, highlighting the importance of helping the country's 900 million farmers raise incomes.

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The People's Daily publishes an editorial Monday, Feb. 9, highlighting the importance of helping the country's 900 million farmers raise incomes.

In the editorial, the newspaper speaks highly of the importance of the document issued by the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the Chinese government on policies to boost the growth in the incomes of farmers, describing it as guiding document for the Party and the government in handling issues of agriculture and rural work.

The average income of Chinese farmers has been growing slowly in recent years and some farmers reported zero and even negative growth in incomes, causing widening income gaps between rural and urban residents, according to the editorial.

Such a situation, if not reversed as soon as possible, would not only affect the improvement of farmers' standards of living, grain production and supplies of farm produce, and rural social and economic development, but also restrict the development of the national economy, it says.

The editorial describes the document as the first of its kind formulated by CPC in cooperation with the central government on ways to lift farmers' incomes since New China was created in 1949,highlighting the importance the authorities attached to the issue.

The document urged stronger support for grain production in major grain-producing areas to help raise the incomes of grain farmers. Resources would be concentrated on the construction of state-class high-quality special grain production bases beginning this year.

In order to reduce the financial burden on farmers, the general level of agricultural tax rates will be cut by one percentage point this year and tax levies on special farm produce, except tobacco leaf, would be annulled.

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