The central government yesterday released its first major document on the building of a new socialist countryside, the primary task in the 11th Five-Year Guidelines period (2006-10).

It embraces ideas set forth by the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the State Council, and reflects the government's determination to solve problems related to farmers, and the development of agriculture and rural areas.

The next five years will be key to laying a solid foundation for building the new socialist countryside. The plan aims to boost modern agriculture; develop new relationships between industry and agriculture, cities and the countryside; and increase rural affluence.

The main tasks listed in the document include:

• Plan economic and social development in urban and rural areas as a whole
• Develop modern agriculture
• Ensure a sustained increase in farmers' income
• Increase infrastructure construction and improve public services in the countryside
• Improve democracy in rural areas as well as rural management
• Motivate the entire society to participate in the construction of the new countryside.
• To increase rural income, more subsidies will be provided to farmers, which will partly be used to buy improved strains of crops and farming machinery.

The document encourages governments to develop township enterprises in line with industrial policies, accelerate the migration of the rural labor force and develop small towns.

It also calls for a long-term plan for the industrial sector to support agriculture.

The essence of the policy is to bring about a change from agriculture supporting industry, to industry supporting agriculture.

This will be accomplished by enhancing fiscal support to agriculture and narrowing the income gap between rural and urban residents, experts say.

The document makes clear that the focus of infrastructure investment should shift from cities to the countryside. All rural towns in China will have road access by the year 2010.  The plan also sets out measures to ensure safe drinking water for farmers and the use of clean energies, encouraging more rural households to use marsh gas.

Rural power grids will also be upgraded and more small hydropower stations will be built. Agricultural information infrastructure development will include enhanced radio and TV service s in villages.

According to the document, China will enhance tax revenue from land lease or land-use fees and invest it in agriculture and the countryside. Fees levied on land lease will be mainly invested in the construction of irrigation facilities.

"Spending a portion of revenues from land-use fees on agriculture is a practical way to increase investment in the countryside," according to Han Jun, an expert on rural affairs.

In recent years, local governments have made a lot of money charging industry developers land-use fees but that revenue has been used mostly for urban construction, Han added.

The document also provides that farmers must be properly compensated when their land is acquired for non-agricultural purposes.

It also calls for improved vocational training and employment opportunities for farmers who lose their land.

Land grabs where farmers are not adequately compensated are an issue of major concern.

Premier Wen Jiabao has warned that "historical mistakes should never be repeated on the land issue."

The document stresses: "We must resolutely implement the most strict arable-land protection system and effectively protect basic farmland and the rights of farmers."

The government will improve the system that allows rural households to contract and use farmland, it says.

With more than 800 million people living in the countryside, the only way to ensure a sustainable development of the national economy is to develop the rural economy and help farmers become more affluent.

The Chinese government will also plough more money into medical care for more than 800 million rural dwellers in 2006.

Different levels of governments will increase investment for township-level hospitals and other medical help for farmers to better control epidemic and endemic diseases, and diseases that attack both humans and livestock.

It said the budget for training rural doctors will also rise, calling for urban doctors to work part-time in rural areas and various non-government bodies to get involved in medical care in the countryside.

In terms of education, the document said that primary and junior high school students in the rural west will be exempt from tuition and other education expenses this year, and similar policies will be implemented in other areas from 2007.

Other beneficial measures outlined in China's first major policy document for 2006 include free textbooks and partial payment of living expenses for students from impoverished families.

The document also called on local governments to raise the overall training and education of farmers. "To ensure the development of the countryside more capable farmers are urgently needed."

(China Daily, Xinhua News Agency February 22, 2006)