Small towns help settle excessive rural laborers-official
( 2003-10-26 08:11) (Xinhua)
The fast development of small towns across the country has made room for the
flourishing of village-based industries as well as excessive laborers from rural
areas.
Wang Chunzheng, deputy director of the State Development and Restructuring
Commission, made this remark here Saturday at the current fifth meeting of the
Standing Committee of the 10th National People's Congress (NPC), the country's
top legislature.
But the official blamed some localities for expanding small towns regardless
of the local conditions and economic power. Some of the small towns are lacking
infrastructure and industries, he noted.
Some of them are spending extravagantly to build large squares, gardens,
thoroughfares and tall buildings, resulting in a severe waste of public
resources and a heavy financial load on local residents and farmers who have
become city residents by paying lots of money to the government, according to
the official.
The official also said that conflicts between local governments and residents
are occasionally reported when the former tried to dismantle houses to pave way
for urban expansion or infrastructure projects without obtaining the consent
from the latter.
Meanwhile, a large area of cultivated land has been taken away and left
unused by local governments.
Currently, China has 485 million rural labors, including 150 million
excessive ones. More than 94 million farmers have entered cities to find a
job.
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