Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Monday promised increased funding for rural development this year, the first step to bringing about great change to rural areas. 

Addressing provincial and ministerial heads at a seminar on Building A New Socialist Countryside, Wen said: "Building a new socialist countryside is a major part of the country's modernization process."

He said China should always give priority to building a new countryside and promoting coordinated urban and rural development, tasks he described as long-term, arduous and complicated.

Wen also vowed to boost the development of modern agriculture and the rural economy, giving priority to stabilizing grain production and increasing farmers' incomes in a sustained manner, while improving education, science and technology, health and culture in rural areas, and grassroots democracy.

He said building a new socialist countryside should not be interpreted as merely constructing villages, although changing the face of the countryside does require construction of villages and environmental improvements.

This year, public spending should exceed that of last year. The ratio of treasury bonds and expenditure on rural construction to the total should be higher than that of last year, Wen said.

China will also encourage the private sector to invest in rural development, he added.

Among those attending the graduation ceremony of the seminar were Chinese Vice-President Zeng Qinghong and other senior Chinese leaders, including Li Changchun, Wu Guanzheng, and Luo Gan, members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.

(Xinhua News Agency February 21, 2006)