Economy

Cash rewards for grain-producing counties

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-04-08 13:28

BEIJING - China's central government has allocated 22.5 billion yuan ($3.44 billion) in cash rewards to its major grain-producing counties, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said Thursday.

The fund was higher than the 21 billion yuan granted to more than 1,000 major grain-producing counties all over the country in 2010, which produced the bulk of China's total grain output, according to a statement on the website of the MOF.

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China launched the reward program in 2005, with 5.5 billion yuan being granted in cash rewards to some 800 major grain-producing counties, to solve the counties' financing difficulties and encourage them to raise grain production.

The reward will be granted in proportion to the counties' grain acreage and output and can be spent on agricultural development, technological innovation, education, culture, health work and any other fields to improve rural economy and further raise the quality of the farmers' life, according to earlier statement made by the MOF.

China's grain output rose 2.9 percent in 2010 to 1.09 trillion jin (546.41 million tons), marking the seventh consecutive year of growth, and the State Council, the Cabinet, said earlier this year that it aimed to keep its 2011 grain production over one trillion jin.