Members of the Political Bureau of Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the central government, including Hu Jintao, Wen Jiabao, Zeng Qinghong, Huang Ju and Li Changchun, attended the two-day conference, which concluded Wednesday in Beijing.

A four-point proposal for developing agriculture in China, with the top priority given to deepening reform in rural areas was set.

Under the new guide the Chinese Government will continue to grant farmers "long-term '' land-use rights, while officials at all levels were urged to pay more attention to the three agriculture-related issues-- the countryside, farmers and farming.

Under the working plan, more rural residents can this year expect to be freed from the financial burdens imposed by unreasonable administrative charges as top officials promised to further spread the fees-to-tax reform, aimed at cutting a string of administrative charges which have been levied in the countryside.

Farmers will also benefit from easier access to bank loans, stronger government subsidies and by being much better informed about where to sell their produce.

In addition they can look forward to having much better health services and improved school facilities.

The Party Central Committee and the State Council decided to increase investment in the sectors of education, health and culture in rural areas, with the aim of improving the living conditions of farmers.

Addressing the meeting, Hu Jintao, secretary-general of the CPC Central Committee, said these goals will help China attain its cherished dream of building a xiaokang society, which means well-off in the broadest of senses, not only materially, but socially.

"If the benefits of xiaokang can not be attained by rural people, China will fail to live up to its dream of a xiaokang society,'' said Hu.

In the first half of last year, per capita income of urban residents was 3,942 yuan (US$476), 17.5 percent up on the same period of the previous year, while the income of rural residents was 1,123 yuan (US$135.6), only a 5.9 percent increase, according to the latest data.

According to official statistics, the average urban income was 1.7 times as much as the rural income in 1984. By 1999 it was 2.65 times.

To close the economic gap, top officials agreed Wednesday to deepen the ongoing reforms on the grain distribution system, further restructure the agricultural sector and regulate agricultural business, by making it more efficient and structured.

They said the transfer of surplus rural workers to urban areas is another important way to increase rural incomes. Such migrant workers could find employment in township enterprises or the rapidly growing service sectors of cities. Ways to stimulate rural consumption, much lower than that of city dwellers, also needs to be encouraged.

China's rural areas are the largest untapped markets in the nation and home to the vast majority of the nation's population, the officials highlighted.

Such stimulus would help promote the nation's key economic policy of expanding domestic demand, imperative to sustaining the national economy on a fast and healthy track, they said.

(China Daily January 9, 2003)