Raise farmers' income

The first document the Chinese government issued this year to address rural problems explicitly highlights a sense of crisis. Yet, hardships ahead should speed, and not slow, efforts to increase farmers' income.

This document represents a swift policy response to the increasingly negative impact the ongoing global financial crisis and economic recession have exerted on the Chinese economy.

More important, the document, the sixth of its kind since 2004, continues to expand rural support that has proven vital to consolidating the sound development momentum in agriculture and rural areas.