Chinese government will invest about 62 billion yuan in rural
infrastructure this year, the National Development and Reform
Commission has announced.
The investment would target projects involving road
construction, power generation and water conservancy, and also
poverty reduction and community facilities, according to the
commission.
The sum is 9 billion yuan more than budgeted for the previous
year, said the commission in a guide for government investment in
rural areas for 2007.
The guide said the central government had invested more than 60
billion yuan in the countryside in 2006, and more than 36 billion
yuan were channeled to grain production, education, sanitation and
poverty reduction, which are directly linked to farmers' production
and living standards.
The country's grain output reached 497.46 million tons in 2006,
an increase of 13.44 million tons, according to the commission.
The central government would put more investment of the 62
billion yuan into sectors directly linked to production and living
standards, according to the investment guide.
And about 10 billion yuan would be devoted to the modernization
of the agricultural sector this year.
The commission said the guide was intended to ensure more
investment would be made in the countryside and western China with
a view to achieving balanced development within the country.
The guide is also aimed at bringing more social funds to rural
areas and encouraging public supervision over government
investment.
The commission published the investment guide for the first time
in 2006.
(Xinhua News Agency, July 4, 2007)