China Approves A Major Rural Land Reform Package

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 10:45:29 +0000
AHN Staff

Beijing, China (AHN) - China's Communist Party leaders have approved a major economic package of reforms that will allow farmers to trade and mortgage their land rights, which would dramatically change countries economic policy over the next few years.

On Sunday, the Communist Party of China's Central committee approved the rural reform economic package on the closing day of annual four-day meeting aimed to reduce the gap between rural and urban areas of the country.

The package was approved in the attendants of up to 500 members of the party's committee along with leading delegates and chaired by President Hu Jintao, according to Xinhua news agency.

Reports have indicated that the country is facing issues related to the development of rural areas and economic reforms. The gap between the rural and urban income has increased over the last 30 years due to capitalist market policies.

"Rural infrastructure is still weak and needs improving. Rural development is lagging behind and needs support. Farmers' income increases slowly and needs speeding up," Xinhua quoted an official document released by China's government.

"We will firmly push forward the rural reform. We will continue to emancipate the mind," it said. "We shall work out new concepts and ideas to solve the problems in rural development."

The government has taken the step to reform the rural region and to restructure its economic policy as the world facing financial turmoil and struggling with weak credit market conditions.

Under the latest economic package, farmers would be able to trade, event and mortgage their land use rights to gain profit in the market.

The major economic reform plan call for a doubling of China's per-capital rural income of $591 by 2020, Chinese state controlled media reported.

It added that per-capita disposable income was recorded at 4,140 yuan ($605.6) in rural regions in year of 2007, with a year-on-year rise of 9.5 percent.

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