Document shows determination to build a new countryside

It's the third consecutive year since 2004 that agriculture, farmers and countryside development have been the "No. 1 Document", showing China's determination to solve problems in rural areas.

The circulation, issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the State Council on Tuesday, constitutes an important program on building a "new socialist countryside". By offering a multi-facet solution incorporating rural construction, social undertakings and democracy, it differs from the previous two area-specific documents addressing particular issues, such as grain production, farmers' income, or agricultural production capability.

More public funds

The document stresses more financial support to rural development. A permanent mechanism is expected to effect soon, which turns industries and urban areas into a boost to the rural development.

Distribution of the national revenue will be adjusted in the way that the national fiscal spending, budgetary investment on fixed assets and credits will increasingly go to agriculture and rural areas.

Support from the public funds should be more extensive and increase steadily. In 2006, fiscal spending on rural development should rise by a larger margin than last year. A higher proportion of treasury bonds and budgetary fund will go to the rural development. In particular, more money will be directly invested into improving the production and living conditions in rural areas for a stable channel of fund-raising for the construction of a new countryside.

Infrastructure

Higher tax will be levied on use of arable land and the newly added taxes will be used on rural development. Rules will be formulated to secure and regulate the use of part of the land tax revenue on farmland development. Fees collected for land use is supposed to be mainly spent on petty farmland development and water conservancy projects.

The government will give priority to infrastructure most urgently needed for farmers' life. The program of safe drinking water in rural areas will be implemented faster, with focus on areas plagued with fluorin, arsenic, or alkaline-intensive water, or polluted water, as well as areas suffered from schistosomiasis. Where the condition permits, water should be supplied in a concentrated way so that drinking water and water for other purposes in life will be pumped separately.

Clean energy, in the form of methane, straw gasification technology, small hydropower, solar energy and wind farm, will be promoted. Investment in rural methane projects will soar from 2006. Methane will be accessible even to every household in some areas.

Upgrading of power grids should be completed in rural areas. And construction of rural roads will be advanced. By the end of the 11th Five-Year Plan Period (2006-2010), all the towns across the country, as well as all villages in eastern and central parts of the country, will have pitch road. Villages in the west will at least have roads.

Pocketbook

The national support system for the agriculture and farmers should be secured and consolidated by improving the policy of direct subsidies.

The document requires that the direct subsidies to grain production in grain-grown areas be raised to 50 percent of the grain risk fund, which is the most important macro-control tool leveraging the grain market price.

Other areas should also grant more subsidies to grain-growing farmers. Besides that, there are subsidies helping farmers buy high-quality seeds and farm machinery.

The document urges a perfect system to be set up catering to agricultural production and market to protect and prop up the interest of farmers growing grain.

Measures are also specified in detail to promote the consistent increase in farmers' income and lay a solid economic foundation for the new countryside.

The transfer of rural labor is highlighted in the document. Discriminative restrictions on migrant workers on urban job markets must be removed. Migrant workers should be protected by social security system gradually. Insurance for occupational injuries should cover all migrant workers. And medical social pooling funds and endowment insurance system should be studied.

Rural education

The government will make great efforts on compulsory nine-year education for rural students and take further steps to alleviate their educational burden. Students included in the rural compulsory education system in western areas will be exempted from tuition. Those born in poor families will get free textbooks and lodging allowance. From 2007, the policy will be extended to all rural areas across the country.

A mechanism of guarantee should be put in place for the fund for rural compulsory education. The condition of schools in rural areas will be improved. And the public fund for rural elementary schools and secondary schools should be better secured.

The document defines the training of farmers is urgently needed for building a socialist new countryside to make them well-educated, technologically literate with basic knowledge in management. The technical training program for farmers should be continued. The training program for farmers working in urban areas will be expanded.

A market-oriented training mechanism supported by government and other possible sources will be set up as soon as possible.

Social security

The government promises in the document to advance the new rural cooperative health care system, which will get much more support both from the central and local fiscal systems since 2006 and will be basically spread to all the rural areas in 2008.

Governments at all levels are supposed to keep increasing input into the health care infrastructure, clinics in towns and villages particularly, and into the system of basic health care service and aid.

The rural social security system is necessary and needs to be built gradually. Public funds should contribute more to the system in line with the principle of harmony between urban and rural areas.

The rural endowment system should also be built suited to the economic development in rural areas and should work well with other social security measures.

The pilot project to encourage family planning will be extended to more rural households. The poverty alleviation project promoting "lower birth rate, faster wealth build-up" in the country's west will be carried out on a larger scale.

Guarantee of subsistence allowances should also be considered in rural areas.

Financial reform

Some ten measures have been proposed in the document to arrange the rural financial reform.

Community financial institutions are encouraged under the condition that the capital adequacy requirement is satisfied and stringent supervision and effective exit channel are in place. Private capital and foreign investment are welcome.

Financial institutions in counties, while ensuring capital security, should put a certain proportion of their newly added deposits into local agriculture and rural economy. Postal savings will be used more freely and channeled to the local rural development.

The pilot project for policy-based agricultural insurance will be steadily advanced. Diversified, multi-channeled agricultural insurance should be developed. And rural households and small and medium enterprises will have an easier access to collateralized loans.

Government function

Township governments will be streamlined. Within five years there will be no more personnel. Laid off personnel should be taken care of.

Township administrations are urged to transform their function, shifting attention to creating a favorable environment from engagement in investment introduction, production and operation, or grain production.

Fiscal reform can be pushed forward faster in some areas. The reform concerns putting finance of counties under the direct control of the provincial governments or villages having their finance under the custody of the county administrations but the spending on their own

Environment

More attention will be given to village planning and residential environment. Whenever possible, revamping or face-lifting is always a better choice than reconstruction on a bulldozed land, which will add more burden to farmers.

There is an urgent demand among Chinese farmers for better environment as their livelihood has improved and the process of building a well-off society in an all-round way is advanced. Given this, governments at all levels should make more efforts on village planning, including planning and management of housing sites.

Land for construction in villages should be saved as much as possible. Designs of economical and safe housing, which uses land, energy and materials efficiently, will be offered to farmers free of charge. Government should help farmers improve their housing layout, which now mixes residence with livestock pens. The treatment of sewage and wastes should also be handled.

The document points out that villages should be built in the way that their local and ethnic uniqueness are highlighted and ancient villages or residences are preserved.

By People's Daily Online