04/08/2003
China Daily

The first plenary meeting of the 10th National People's Congress (NPC) - in which China's new leaders, including President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, were named - concluded on March 18.

Several reforms were proposed during the meeting. The initiatives are intended to push China to establish a smooth market economy, and to open wider to foreign businesses.

Among the proposed initiatives, agricultural reform and measures to subsidize farmers are considered top priorities.

Wen has extensive experience in dealing with agricultural issues. Under former Premier Zhu Rongji, Wen was vice-premier in charge of the agriculture and finance sectors.

Still, a hard, consistent effort is needed to improve conditions in the agriculture sector.

More important, bold administrative reform is necessary to ensure economic reforms in agriculture are successful, and to guarantee the efficient disbursement of subsidies to farmers.

During his first press conference as Chinese Premier, held on March 18, Wen said laying off township government employees through administrative reforms is a precondition to reducing the burdens facing farmers.

Township governments tend to employ too many workers. Subsequently, farmers must pay more taxes and fees. Excessive employment also leaves the system open to abuse of power.

Cutting positions in township governments through central government's orders will become a reality.

The central and provincial governments are expected to supervise the downsizing of China's more than 200,000 township governments.

Guaranteeing farmers greater involvement in helping the reform would be the best way to achieve that objective.

Farmers should have the right to supervise township governments' budgets.

It is the easiest and less-expensive way to cut positions in township governments and to reduce administrative costs in rural areas.

China's farmers have since 1997 been allowed to elect village leaders, and supervise their spending.

Yet, that has proven to be insufficient.

Village leaders do not have the right to decide budgets, and they must collect money from farmers for township government.

Subsidization of farmers could be impeded by the lack of a mechanism to supervise township government officials.

Generally, farmers' subsidies are disbursed by township governments' officials.

But if the current excessive number of township government officials were trimmed down under the supervision of both the central government and farmers, fees and taxes levied on farmers would be more sufficiently reduced.

It would not cost much for farmers to supervise township governments' budgets. Farmers have great motivation to perform such functions, as their taxes make up much of the township governments' spending.

In addition to administrative reforms, the central government must increase financial support to township governments.

The central government should support township governments' normal administrative spending, provide investments for public facilities in rural areas, and allocate funds for education and technologies in the countryside.

Such measures could help ease farmers' burdens.

Meanwhile, barriers blocking the flow of rural labourers to urban areas must be eliminated.

Only through such efforts will the new leaders' objectives of improving farmers' conditions be achieved.