The per capita net income of Chinese farmers was 3,255 yuan in 2005, while the disposable income of urban dwellers was 10,493 yuan, 3.22 times over the former.

This is learned from Chen Xiwen, deputy director of the Office of Central Financial Work Leading Group, Wednesday at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office on the building of a new socialist countryside.

The gap between urban and rural areas continued to widen.

Chen said that China's grain output rebounded to 484 million tons in 2005, which is still insufficient. Moreover, the shortages of farmland and water resources have both increasingly restrained agricultural development.

"As a matter of fact, nearly 200 million farmers have been out of countryside due to the labor flow and changes in administration", said Chen Xiwen. With the advancement of a new countryside, the number of farmers will continue to fall.

By People's Daily Online