The per capita cash income of Chinese farmers hit 2,762 yuan
(US$345) in the first nine months of the year, up 11.4 percent year
on year, a National Bureau of Statistics spokesman said in
Beijing on Thursday.
Responding to questions at a press conference, spokesman Li
Xiaochao attributed the growth of farmers' income to several
factors, including growing earnings of migrant laborers and higher
income yielded from farm produce sales.
Revenue growth in secondary and tertiary industries in rural
areas and government subsidies to farmers have also given farmers'
income a boost, the spokesman said.
"This is really good news," he said. "The central government has
always been concerned about increasing farmers' income."
Over the past three years, farmers' per capita income has grown
at a double-digit rate, he noted.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the abolition of the
agricultural tax on Jan. 1 this year has reduced farmers' per
capita annual tax burden by 140 yuan (US$18) compared with
1999.
(Xinhua News Agency October 20, 2006)