International media reporting on the current session of the 10th
National People's Congress (NPC) is turning its attention to
China's efforts to develop impoverished rural areas and narrow the
growing gap between rich and poor.
Many outlets say there is still plenty of room for
improvement.
"It is great to divert government investment, education, health
care and bank loans to these areas. However, it is still a
difficult job for these guiding principles to be implemented at the
grassroots level," Allen Cheng, a reporter for US-based
Bloomberg News, said yesterday after hearing Premier Wen
Jiabao's work report, in which he vowed China would build a "new
socialist countryside."
Cheng said the government has been promising to spread
prosperity to the countryside, home to some 800 million people, for
a long time. However, much still needs to be done, he said.
As more than 600 foreign journalists from 35 countries have
registered for the coverage of this year's plenary sessions of
China's top legislature and political advisory body, Cheng's view
is echoed by many of his foreign peers.
Chua Chin Hon, China bureau chief for Straits Times in
Singapore, said that it is critical the way in which farmers'
problems are handled, such as land in agricultural areas, as
protests against corruption and inequality have occurred in rural
areas over recent years.
Of most interest is how much money the Chinese government will
put into the new countryside project and how policies are
implemented.
Ouyang Song, deputy director of the Organization Department of
the CPC Central Committee, said China is now undergoing a
transition that will raise gross domestic product per capita from
US$1,000 to US$3,000, which is a golden time for development as
well as one for problems.
Chua said that is why as a foreign journalist, he is so
interested in China's work to redirect funds by shifting the
government's priority in infrastructure investment from urban areas
to the countryside.
Mayumi Otani, correspondent for The Mainichi newspaper
in Japan, said she wanted to offer something useful for her readers
back in Tokyo, in addition to coverage on rural development and
education.
"My focus is on resource conservation and energy saving," said
Otani, who has been in China for two years, adding that Japanese
companies are looking for cooperation with Chinese partners in such
fields.
She said Japan is improving equipment and technology on energy
saving, and decreasing consumption of materials, and any Chinese
policies concerning such business opportunities are warmly
welcomed.
"I hope my reports will help expand Sino-Japanese cooperation in
energy saving," she said with a smile.
Russian reporter Alexey Novosti said peace and stability across
the Taiwan Straits continued to be a major topic for him, as Taiwan
leader Chen Shui-bian forced the "National Unification Council" and
the "National Unification Guidelines" to cease function late last
month.
Among other questions on the reporters' minds are national
defence and military spending, and the 11th Five-Year Plan
(2006-10) for National Economic and Social Development.
(China Daily March 6, 2006)