On February 8, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the State Council issued a document for solving the chronic problem of slow income growth for rural people.

This is the first time in the 55-year history of the People's Republic for such a high-profile document by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council highlighting the specific issue of the income growth of rural people.

Discussion has been sparked on this so-called "No 1 document."

Beijing News: Against the backdrop of the serious situation facing the income growth of rural people as well as agricultural development, the paper has a far-reaching bearing on China's reform drive.

The document focuses on the specific issue of increasing the income of rural people as a key for developing rural economies and having balanced social development.

Since the drive of reform and opening up was initiated in China two decades ago, the gap between rural and urban areas has not been narrowed down, but has in fact widened. The ratio of annual disposable income for urban dwellers compared with the annual income of rural residents reached 3.11 to 1 in 2002, from 1.8 to 1 in the 1980s.

The document puts forward a series of applicable solutions to alleviating such burdens and increasing their income, which will hopefully serve as a boost to rural economies.

China's economic development, which has been thwarted by inactive domestic demand, depends on whether or not consumption in rural areas will grow, since country dwellers make up more than 60 percent of China's total population.

But statistics show that since 1997, income growth for rural people has slowed down. This has led to weaker purchasing power of those people.

In 2002, consumption by the rural population made up 36.7 percent of the nation's total social consumption. In September of 2003, this figure dropped to 34.8 percent. Insufficient consumption in rural areas will sour the vitality of the country's economic growth, and result in imbalance of development.

So solutions proposed by "No 1 Document" to increase the income of rural people and raise their consumption, if fully implemented, will jump-start the nation's overall economic development.

In addition, maintaining social stability also depends on the stability of rural areas, which may be affected by slowing income growth.

In rural areas, some are still struggling in abject poverty.

By the international standard that a person whose consumption does not reach US$1 a day could be categorized as poverty-stricken, there would be 88 million in this group in China's rural areas.

In this sense, the document, which puts forwards measures to alleviate rural poverty, will contribute to maintaining social stability in China's vast rural areas.

Meanwhile, proposals like furthering tax-for-fee reforms, improving rural education, protecting the rights of employment for migrant workers will also promote the rights and interests of the rural population.

China Business Times: It is unavoidable that surplus rural labourers will move to the cities as China's urbanization continues. And now it is a major source of income growth for rural people to seek jobs in urban settings.

The "No 1 document" urges that in 2004, about 100 million rural redundant labourers should be allowed to move to urban areas to work.

It is a priority for governments at all levels to deal with the problems facing these new workers.

It is difficult for rural people to secure jobs in cities. Some local ventures and departments cannot change their biased attitude towards rural laborers.

To promote employment of local residents, some cities take into consideration short-term local interests and put obstacles in the way of rural laborers seeking employment by issuing discriminatory policies.

Even if some of these migrant workers are lucky enough to find work, their payments are often delayed and their rights violated due to failure by employers to abide by relevant laws and regulations.

These unfair employment policies have intensified the disparity between urban and rural areas and blocked progress for economic development of rural areas.

So it is urgent to remove barriers blocking the flow of human resources between urban and rural areas, eliminate restrictions on the employment of migrant workers and treating those labourers as equals with their urban counterparts in cities.

To help rural workers find jobs in cities, professional training is indispensable.

Lack of information and skills has put these rural laborers in a disadvantageous position in competition. Governments at all levels and related departments should help them understand the rules of competition and help them adapt to life in cities, learn laws and regulations, strengthen their skills and obtain information.

It is a systematic task to tackle the problems facing migrant workers. It will involve urban management and social security for those workers.

Guizhou Daily: The "No 1 Document" puts forward the notion that the rural financial system should be reformed to provide more loans to rural enterprises and residents and improve financial services to those areas in line with local needs and conditions.

Experts said it is a breakthrough for rural reform, since insufficient and ineffective financial services do not meet the demands of rural households and enterprises for loans, and this has become a bottleneck for rural economic development.

Reform and innovation associated with the rural financial system require considerable attention in a number of areas.

It should be clarified that financial institutions at the county level are the entity which serves rural communities.

The floating range of interests of loans for rural people should be widened. Small-sum credit programmes for rural households should also be encouraged.

With strict supervisory measures in place to ward off financial risks, foreign or private capital should be allowed in rural financial institutions to provide better services in those communities.

And different forms of guarantees for credit should be explored to create more opportunities for rural people to get loans.

(China Daily February 19, 2004)