Chinese farmers income surges to record levels in first half

BEIJING: Thanks to soaring prices of farm products, Chinese farmers are expected to reap record income this year with figures indicating a 10.3 per cent hike in the first half of 2008.

The per capita income of people in China's rural areas rose to 10.3 per cent in the first half of this year, the highest increase for the six-month period for four years, Agriculture Minister Sun Zhengcai said.

Farmers' average net income for the half year was USD 370, he said in his report to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the top legislature here yesterday.

Following a 9.5 per cent annual increase last year - the largest since 1985 - this year is expected to break all records, thanks to a skyrocketing producer price index, an increasingly wealthy migrant labour class and the growth of subsidies paid to the country's farmers, Sun said.

For the past five years, rural issues have been at the core of China's ruling Communist Party and government. Some 800 million out of Chinas 1.3 billion people live in rural areas and are involved in farming.
Having several overcome socioeconomic barriers and natural adversities, the country's early rice harvest "is here to stay" and autumn crops are "doing well", Sun was quoted by the state media.

However, he said the foundations of wage increases are thin, and long-term mechanisms to ensure the sustainable growth of rural incomes are still not fully in place, especially in the face of further uncertainties expected later in the year.