In the recently convened 2005 1st Half Suburban Economic Developmental Analysis Forum, Beijing's deputy mayor Niu Youcheng pointed out that although rural residents' standards of living have been rising rapidly and steadily, the gap between city and village is still growing further apart. For Beijing to realize "habitable city," the focus will be in the suburbs and the villages.

Deputy mayor Niu remarked that although the standard of living of rural residents have been rising rapidly, the gap between the urban and rural areas continued to grow. Even between different districts, the pace of development is extremely unbalanced. Another two years and Beijing will be welcoming the Olympics. Therefore, Beijing's agriculture, rural areas and farmers must accelerate to the pace of "new Beijing, new Olympics."

It was reported that in the first half of this year, Beijing's rural residents' consumption expenditures grew at a faster rate than their income, for the first time in these three years. Both income and expenditures of rural residents showed marked increases in the first half, with average rural cash income at 4,607 yuan (US$568) and average spending was 3,182 yuan, with rate of increase in spending exceeding that in income. At present, the gap between suburban and rural rich and poor in the capital is still relatively large, with current low-income farmers' average earnings at 12.5 percent of those of high-income residents.

(Chinanews.cn August 1, 2005)