The second national agriculture census in China will be launched on
December 31. It's designed to lay the foundation for the country's
efforts to deal with agriculture issues.
The census is an important step in the process of building a new socialist countryside, said Vice
Premier Hui Liangyu at a conference yesterday.
China's first national agriculture census was conducted in 1996
and dramatic changes have occurred in the countryside since
then.
The new census was of great significance to boost rural
economies, social progress and democracy, said Hui, who heads the
census leading group.?
The State Council issued a decree on the national agriculture
census?that took effect in August. The exercise, the biggest
of its kind ever conducted in the world, is expected to
require?7 million census workers.
The contents of the census will include details of households
and businesses engaged in agriculture, the environmental situation
in the countryside, land use, fixed asset investment, employment in
rural areas and the quality of life for farmers.
It's estimated that some 30,000 townships, 600,000 villages and
more than 200 million rural households will be covered in the
census.
(Xinhua News Agency December 14, 2006)
