Jan. 31, 2007 (China Knowledge) – China will increase its financial support for agriculture and farmers this year by a margin larger than 2006, said Chen Xiwen, director of the rural work office of the central government.

The senior agriculture official said at a press conference on Tuesday that 2007 will record three “continuous increases” in financial input in agriculture, a principle raised in a central government document issued on Monday.

The document, jointly released by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council, is the first set of major policies to be released in 2007 focusing on rural development for the fourth consecutive year.

According to the document, China will strive to build an investment guarantee mechanism to promote modern agriculture construction by focusing more on development of infrastructure and social undertakings in rural regions.

The central budget allocated a total of RMB 1,114.2 billion to the construction of rural regions, agriculture and the development of farmers during 2003 to 2006.