Interpreting 5 years of farmer income growth data: the key to a moderately prosperous society lies with rural folk
Not long ago, farmer Xie Suxia of Baolin Village, Jiangtai Township, Xiji County, Guyuan, Ningxia, got a new job sorting vegetables at a vegetable base near the village, and this job increased her monthly income by 2400 yuan.
General Secretary Xi Jinping said: “To know whether we have achieved moderate prosperity, the key is to look at rural folk.” During the “12th Five-Year Plan” period, farmer income achieved an average annual growth of 10.1%, the Engel coefficient of rural households fell from 41.1% in 2010 to 37.7% in 2013, and more than 50 million people took off the “hat of poverty.” In these changing figures, we can clearly sense the new changes in farmers' lives, the new paths for farmers to become prosperous, and the new face of rural society.
Per capita net income grew 10.1% annually: farmers' wallets are getting fatter and fatter
63-year-old Wang Congjiong is a farmer in Baimao Town, Yuexi County, Anqing City, Anhui Province, and an expert ginger grower. “This year I planted more than 8 mu of ginger, and I estimate the yield is more than 6000 jin per mu. Calculating fresh ginger at 2 yuan per jin, the income is estimated at nearly 100,000 yuan.”
Living a good life and a wealthy life has been the greatest dream of Chinese farmers for thousands of years.
“In 2014, China's per capita net income of farmers reached 9892 yuan, nearly 4000 yuan more than in 2010. Since the ‘12th Five-Year Plan’ it has grown at an average annual rate of 10.1%, and the growth rate has now been higher than the growth rate of urban residents' income and higher than GDP growth for 5 consecutive years, maintaining relatively rapid growth for 11 consecutive years. This year, per capita net income of farmers is expected to break through the 10,000-yuan mark.” Speaking of farmer income growth during the “12th Five-Year Plan” period, Minister of Agriculture Han Changfu's words were firm and resounding.
Sustained increases in farmer income cannot be separated from the Party's policy support. Over the past 5 years, the Party Central Committee has always adhered to taking the resolution of “three rural issues” as the top priority in the work of the whole Party. Since the beginning of the new century, 12 No. 1 documents guiding “three rural issues” work have been issued consecutively, continuously increasing investment in “three rural issues” and playing an important role in promoting increased agricultural production and farmer income.
Data show that in 2011 central fiscal investment in “three rural issues” exceeded 1 trillion yuan for the first time, reaching 1.38 trillion yuan in 2013, and in the first three years of the “12th Five-Year Plan” investment in “three rural issues” already exceeded the total of the “11th Five-Year Plan.” In 2014, funds for the “four subsidies” - direct grain subsidies, improved seed subsidies, agricultural machinery purchase subsidies, and comprehensive agricultural input subsidies - reached 168.1 billion yuan, an increase of 45.5 billion yuan over 2010.
Boosted by a series of policies, China's agriculture has accelerated its transformation from traditional agriculture to modern agriculture, rural economic and social development has taken new steps, the paths for farmers to increase income and become prosperous have become broader, and farmers' wallets are getting fatter and fatter.
Engel coefficient fell 3.4 percentage points in three years: farmers' consumption level has clearly upgraded
At the e-commerce poverty alleviation forum of the 2015 High-Level Forum on Poverty Reduction and Development held a few days ago, Zhang Xuan, Party branch secretary of Changgou Village, Jifeng Town, Cheng County, Longnan City, Gansu Province, shared the new changes that e-commerce has brought to local farmers' lives. “E-commerce is not just opening a Taobao online store, nor is it simply selling agricultural specialty products; it also brings hope to the development of villages in remote mountainous areas in many aspects, including infrastructure construction and cultivation of distinctive industries.” Zhang Xuan led the villagers onto a prosperity road of “farmers + online stores + market.”
With the spread of the internet in rural areas and the improvement of rural infrastructure, rural e-commerce has developed rapidly, rural business models have continuously innovated, and farmers' means of consumption have become more diverse. According to statistics, in 2014 China's rural e-commerce users reached nearly 80 million, and the annual growth rate of rural e-commerce users reached 41%, far faster than the 17% growth rate of urban e-commerce users, showing a good development trend.
Han Changfu introduced that in 2014, China's per capita living consumption expenditure of farmers was nearly 7000 yuan, nearly 3000 yuan more than in 2010. The Engel coefficient of rural households fell from 41.1% in 2010 to 37.7% in 2013, the proportion of food consumption expenditure dropped markedly, consumption expenditures on culture, education and entertainment, transportation and communications, and medical care continued to grow, farmers' housing and living conditions improved greatly, and the consumption level clearly upgraded.
“During the ‘12th Five-Year Plan’ period, the income gap between urban and rural residents in China continued to narrow, falling from 3.13:1 in 2011 to 2.92:1 in 2014. The Engel coefficient of rural residents fell by more than 3 percentage points in 3 years, a very fast rate of decline, fully demonstrating that farmers' quality of life has been continuously improved.” said Pan Jiahua, director of the Institute for Urban and Environmental Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
More than 50 million people took off the “hat of poverty”: farmers better share in the fruits of development
Juancheng in Shandong was historically part of the Yellow River floodplain and had a large poor population. In recent years, Juancheng has made “one village, one product” the “No. 1 project” of county-wide poverty alleviation and development. Vegetables in Zuoying Township, oil peonies in Penglou Town, honeysuckle in Dongkou Town, and chili peppers in Linpu Town have become well known near and far, becoming distinctive industries that drive poor people to increase income.
During the “12th Five-Year Plan” period, especially since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party and government have placed poverty alleviation and development in a more prominent position, advancing it forward with great force, across broad fields, and at multiple levels, and making every effort to shore up the weak links in the development of poor areas.
Statistics show that from 2011 to 2015, central fiscal special poverty alleviation funds grew from 27.2 billion yuan to 46.745 billion yuan, almost doubling; during the “12th Five-Year Plan” period, the Ministry of Transport invested more than 550 billion yuan in vehicle purchase tax funds in transportation construction in 14 contiguous destitute areas, accounting for nearly 50% of the national total; the construction of the basic public service system in poor areas was accelerated, the urban and rural basic old-age insurance system was fully established, and more than 50 million people in rural areas nationwide were included in the scope of minimum living security.
More than 4 years have passed, and China's poverty alleviation and development cause has advanced with great strides, with more than 50 million people taking off the “hat of poverty.” Hong Tianyun, deputy director of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, introduced that from 2011 to 2014, the national rural poor population decreased from 122 million to 70.17 million, with a cumulative reduction of 52.21 million poor people, and the poverty incidence rate fell from 12.7% to 7.2%. Judging from this year's trend, it is expected to complete the goal of reducing poverty by another 10 million people.
In building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, no one can be left behind. “At present China still has more than 70 million poor people, and poverty alleviation and development has entered the sprint period of gnawing on hard bones and storming fortresses.” Liu Yongfu, director of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, said that in order to achieve the goal of completely eliminating existing extreme poverty by 2020, we will fully implement the targeted poverty alleviation strategy, focus on building big data for poverty alleviation and development, gather a powerful force for poverty alleviation, and ensure that the poor population is lifted out of poverty on schedule.