Qiu Guihai's monthly salary was aound 800 yuan (US$100) in 2002 when he began working in a watch factory in Foshan in south China's Guangdong Province.

 

He has changed jobs several times to "pocket more money" over the past four years. But the 28-year-old former farmer's hopes of earning more remain slim. Qiu, from Nanxiong County in northern Guangdong Province, now earns 1,000 yuan (US$125) a month in another watch factory in Foshan.

 

And Qiu is not alone. Nearly 40 percent of farmers who're now employed in other jobs earn an average monthly wage of around 500-800 yuan (US$62-US$100), according to a recent survey conducted by the Research Office of the State Council.

 

The survey found that migrant workers who earn between 300-500 yuan (US$37-US$62) a month account for nearly 30 percent of the total. Those earning more than 800 yuan (US$100) make up around 28 percent.

 

As an important income source for rural families the wages of migrant workers have been slow to rise in comparison to the rapid increases of urban wages in the past few years.

 

"The slower increase of wages for migrant workers, to a large extent, hinders rural families' income growth," said Ma Xiaohe, deputy director of the Academy of Macroeconomic Research with the National Development and Reform Commission.

 

As a result, it’s expected that China will continue to suffer a large income disparity between rural and urban areas this year, according to a blueprint by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

 

Per capita income in rural areas will reach about 3,500 yuan (US$415) this year, an increase of more than 5 percent over last year, the blueprint states.

 

However, this year's increased ratio is lower than in 2005, which saw a 6.2 percent rise over 2004, according to the blueprint. Per capita incomes in urban areas grew 9.6 percent over the previous year.

 

"As rural areas benefit from the central government's new drive to build a 'new socialist countryside' during the 11th Five-Year Guidelines period (2006-2010), farmers' income will continue to grow this year," Ma said.

 

In terms of building a 'new socialist countryside,' the central government allocated a budget of 339.7 billion yuan (US$42 billion) this year -- 42.2 billion yuan (US$5.2 billion) more than last year.

 

However, the widening income gap between rural and urban areas will continue this year and farmers' purchasing power will remain low, according to Ma.

 

Ma blamed the widening wage gap on the low wages of farmers whose efforts to find better-paid jobs proved mostly unsuessful and the relatively low price of agricultural produce.

 

(China Daily April 17, 2006)