Premier Wen Jiabao delivered his report on the government’s work
in 2004 at the opening ceremony of the Third Session of the 10th
National People’s Congress (NPC) Saturday morning. The report
reviews both achievements and shortcomings in the past year and set
major tasks for this year. Following Wen’s address, the 60 NPC
deputies from Xinjiang
gathered to comment the report.
Problems facing agriculture, rural areas and farmers remain the
top priority of the deputies.
The central government spent 262.6 billion yuan (US$31.8
billion) on agriculture, rural areas and farmers in 2004, an
increase of 22.5 percent. Major policies included reducing or
rescinding the agricultural tax, offering direct subsidies to grain
producers, providing incentives for upgrading machinery and crop
varieties and setting a floor price for major grains.
Wang Lequan, the secretary of Xinjiang’s Communist Party
Committee, said that after the agricultural tax reduction, every
farmer in Xinjiang had been relieved of a tax burden amounting to
75 yuan (US$9).
The region will reduce the tax another three percentage points
and eventually phase it out entirely. The central government will
offset revenue losses to the local government.
Gao Fashui, the secretary of the Yiwu County Communist Party
Committee, said, “We are encouraged since the central government
emphasizes the development of the border region and is building
many infrastructure projects in the rural area.”
These measures narrow the gap between urban and rural areas and
boost the development of remote areas, Gao added.
Gao Tongqing, the general manager of the Xinjiang Branch of
China Telecom, stated, “Our investigation shows that under the
support of such policies, farmers’ consuming ability in the telecom
sector in 2004 rose 1.7 percent over the previous year.”
Xinjiang is one of first regions to benefit from the
government’s Action Plan for Invigorating Education, said Ismail Tiliwaldi, chairman of the
Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region People’s Government.
Last year, a total of 190 million yuan (about US$23.0 million),
primarily from the central government, was spent on free compulsory
education for impoverished students. Books, tuition and other fees
are exempted, and students’ basic living costs are subsidized.
“Currently, over 2.1 million students
in 56 counties of Xinjiang have benefited from the policy,”
Tiliwaldi said.
Tiliwaldi said that about 280 million yuan (US$33.9 million)
will be allocated this year, with 200 million yuan (US$24.2
million) coming from the central government.
China’s western development strategy has had a strong impact on
westernmost Xinjiang. Last year, construction on 10 key projects
involving investment of 80 billion yuan (US$9.7 billion) was
started.
However, Rouzi Gulibayi, the magistrate of Xinjiang Tashikuergan
Tajik Autonomous County, suggested more specificity to optimize the
program.
“Specific legislation should be considered to note down the
effective development methods, targets and tasks,” he said.
(China.org.cn by staff reporter Tang Fuchun, March 7, 2005)
