30% rise in rural spendings this year

The central government is planning a massive increase in spending on rural development this year, with a 30 percent year-on-year rise to a record high of 562.5 billion yuan ($79 billion).

The amount set aside for the country's 700 million farmers accounts for about 16 percent of the government's total spending of almost 3.5 trillion yuan this year, Minister of Finance Xie Xuren said of the draft budget yesterday, on the sidelines of the ongoing annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC).

The figure, still to be approved by the national legislature, is double the central government's input for similar efforts in 2005 and surpasses the total expenditure on rural development between 1998 and 2002 when the country focused its energies on urban development.