China's flourishing agriculture tourism sector will create 350,000 new jobs every year for the next five years, according to the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA).

The government is actively encouraging agriculture tourism, whereby tourists pay farmers to pick their own fruit and catch their own fish, to help meet a target of five percent annual growth in farmers' incomes.

It will designate 100 counties, 1,000 towns and 10,000 villages with exceptional resources as special tourism areas.

"The government will use policies on agriculture industrialization and environmental conservation to support tourism development, especially in farming areas," said Du Yili, deputy director of the CNTA.

The government would allocate funds to support agriculture tourism and guide large travel companies to invest in agriculture tourism projects.

(Xinhua News Agency July 20, 2006)