Growth for farmers minimal, report says
The income gap on the mainland will continue to widen despite efforts over the past two years to boost farmers' incomes, according to a report released yesterday by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a central government think-tank.
The academy's 2008 Blue Book on Social Development said the average disposable income of urban residents, taking inflation into account, jumped by 13.2 per cent year-on-year in the first three quarters of last year to 10,346 yuan, compared with farmers' average cash income of 3,321 yuan in the same period.
The co-editor of the report, Chen Guangjin, from the National Development and Reform Commission, said both rural and urban incomes rose last year.
But the growth for farmers continued to lag behind that for city dwellers and, as a result, 'the income gap will continue to widen, though at a slower pace'.
The report predicted that, for the full calendar year, farmers' average net incomes would have grown by about 8 per cent in 2007 - the highest growth rate in years - thanks in part to raging inflation, which is at its highest level in a decade.
The mainland's consumer price index surged 4.1 per cent year on year in the first nine months of last year, as food prices soared by 10 per cent.
