More than 30 billion yuan (4.4 billion U.S. dollars) is to be pumped into helping jobless rural workers get back to work, the Guangdong provincial government said this week.

Improving employment for migrant workers in Guangdong will be the top priority as the southern province steps up efforts to enhance development of agriculture and rural areas over the next four years, it said.

The notice on Tuesday coincided with the release of the central government's first policy document of the year at the weekend, which highlighted the significance of agricultural development.

Guangdong will speed up its industrial transfer and urbanization plans in a bid to create more jobs for rural laborers and help raise families' incomes, the notice said.

The Guangdong provincial government plans to increase the per capita income of farmers from 6,400 yuan (935 dollars) in 2008 to 9,000 yuan in 2012.

Chinese farmers' net per capita income rose 8 percent last year to 4,761 yuan, the fifth consecutive year there has been at least 6-percent growth.

"The development of agriculture and rural areas is of special significance this year as the country is witnessing tough challenges brought by the global financial crisis, and Guangdong has entered a critical period of industrial transition," said Ding Li, a researcher with the Guangdong provincial situation research and study center.

Ding added that special efforts should be made to get millions of workers back to work following the closure of labor-intensive factories in the Pearl River Delta region.

A recent survey by the Ministry of Agriculture showed around 20 million migrant workers were left without jobs as the crisis takes it toll on China's economy.

"We have to realize that most incomes for rural families are not from farming but working in cities," Ding said.

In 2007, the income in rural areas from the non-farming sector in Guangdong was nearly 160 billion yuan, accounting for 65.3 percent of the total income, according to the provincial government.

As a result, the local authority will allocate 4 billion yuan over the next four years to retrain rural laborers to help them find work in cities or start their own businesses in the countryside.

"The training scheme is also in line with the province's policy to transfer industries to rural areas in its northern and western parts, which are lagging behind in terms of economic development compared to the Pearl River Delta region," Ding said.

Meanwhile, the Guangdong provincial labor and social security authority yesterday urged manufacturers in the Delta to take on more social responsibilities by giving migrant workers favorable employment treatment.

(China Daily February 5, 2009)