Farmers' incomes up 10% in 1st half

The per capita income of people in China's rural areas rose 10.3 percent in the first half of this year, the greatest increase for the six-month period for four years, Agriculture Minister Sun Zhengcai said yesterday.

Farmers' average net income for the half year was 2,528 yuan ($370), he said in his report to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress in Beijing.

Following a 9.5 percent annual increase last year - the largest since 1985 - this year is expected to break all records, thanks to a skyrocketing producer price index, an increasingly wealthy migrant labor class and the growth of subsidies paid to the country's farmers, Sun said.