Surge in spending on agriculture to boost farmers

China's central government is stepping up fiscal spending to develop agriculture and rural regions as well as to improve farmers' livelihoods in an effort to bridge the rural-urban wealth and development gap.

Xie Xuren, minister of finance, said yesterday that fiscal spending from the central government for agriculture-related projects and farmers is likely to top 1.04 trillion yuan ($164 billion) this year, which represents a 21.3-percent surge compared to last year's figure.

Spending has allowed for more water-related facilities to be built and small reservoirs to be consolidated.

The central government has also urged financial institutions to increase lending to agriculture-related businesses through incentive policies, Xie said at a national finance work conference held in Beijing.

Meanwhile, around 227 billion yuan has been allocated to help impoverished farmers in rural regions.

Local governments have implemented subsidy programs for farmers who raise live pigs and hiked minimum purchase prices for wheat and rice.