CHINA'S vice-premier, Zhu Rongji, has been ordered on a two-month nationwide tour of the countryside in a bid to quell peasant unrest.
According to a central government official, Mr Zhu is being sent by senior leader Deng Xiaoping to study the plight of poor farmers in rural provinces.
''Mr Zhu will not be available in Beijing in the coming two months,'' said the official.
''He will put all his efforts into resolving problems in the countryside.'' The move indicates how seriously the Chinese leadership is taking the recent riots by peasants complaining of high prices, inflation, taxes and widespread corruption by party officials and local authorities.
Mainland sources say there have been more than 170 anti-government disturbances in rural provinces since late last year.
Mr Zhu - a driving force in the reform movement - instructed local authorities to stop imposing levies on peasants early this year, but most have ignored the order despite threats of severe punish-ment.
