The development of China's national economy has
entered a new period, and the distribution of the national
revenue has begun to favor agriculture, rural areas and
farmers. This was disclosed by the recent National Working
Conference on Rural Economic Plans held in
Hangzhou.
Liu Jiang, vice-minister in charge of the State
Development and Reform Commission, said, according to
international experience, the relationship between
industrial and agricultural development roughly involves
three phases: first, agriculture subsidies industry during
the early stage of industrialization; second, agriculture
develops parallel to industry during the middle stage of
industrialization; and the third, industry repays
agriculture during the post-industrialization stage. When
the per-capita GDP reaches US$800-US$1,000, and the ratio of
agriculture in the GDP and that of rural laborers in a
country's total number of employees drops under 20 percent
and 40 percent respectively, economic development moves from
the early stage to the middle stage of industrialization. In
2002, China's per-capita GDP averaged US$900, the proportion
of agriculture in the national economy dropped to 14.5
percent, and the ratio of rural laborers in the country's
total number of employees declined to less than 50 percent.
This indicates that China has moved into a new stage
featuring the parallel development of industry and
agriculture.
According to statistics, since the implementation
of the Ninth Five-Year Plan (1996-2000), the capital
allocated by the state treasury to support agriculture has
increased significantly. The government has launched the
fee-to-tax reform in rural areas and increased input in
agriculture, forestry and water conservancy, particularly in
small and medium-sized rural infrastructure facilities. The
central authorities have also requested, as of this year,
most of the newly added expenditures on educational, public
health and cultural undertakings be used in rural areas.
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