Growing income gap between rural and urban residents is affecting China's development, said Chen Xiwen, deputy director of the Office of Central Financial Work Leading Group, who is also an expert on farmers' issues.
  
China's urban residents earned 97.8 percent more in 2003 than they did in 1995, and their consumption measured on the Engel Index dropped 13 percentage points to 37.1 percent during the eight-year period. On the other hand, farmers have earned hardly acent more from farming since 1998.
  
"The situation will continue if the urban population, the consumers of grain products, fails to expand rapidly," Chen warned while addressing China's Development Forum Monday, noting that urbanization is a long and gradual process.
  
During the process, supply of grain products would drop gradually if farmers could not benefit from farming, which might cause a sharp rise in price after a certain period, triggering comprehensive price increases, he said. 
  
Chen urged the government to prevent inflation by creating more opportunities for farmers to improve their skills, earn more and change their living conditions.
  
He also stressed the importance of initiating training programs for migrating farmers in the cities, saying that the level of China's industries depends on the ability of the migrating farmers, who account for over 40 percent of the total labor force in China's secondary and tertiary industries.
  
Statistics show that 52 percent of retail, wholesale and catering staff are migrant farmers, and the ratio is 67 percent in the manufacturing industry, and 79.8 percent in the construction industry.

(Xinhua News Agency March 23, 2004)