Rural areas get backing to improve infrastructure

Government supports countryside startups by rolling out favorable policies

China is to invest 3.4 trillion yuan ($495 billion) over the next four years to improve infrastructure in rural areas, including water supplies, roads and power supplies, as the government seeks to boost incomes and encourage startups.

Tang Renjian, deputy director of the Central Rural Work Leading Group, the top rural affairs decision-making agency, said on Monday that the central government's only option is to increase investment in the agricultural sector and rural areas in the face of an ongoing economic slowdown.