BEIJING -- China will promptly formulate a master plan for reforming the income distribution system in a bid to narrow the widening income gap, Premier Wen Jiabao said in a report submitted to the parliament's session Monday morning.

The government will strive to raise the proportion of individual income in national income, and raise the proportion of remuneration in the primary distribution, Wen said at the opening meeting of the Fifth Session of the National People's Congress, China's parliament.

"We will quickly reverse the trend of a widening income gap," said Wen, noting that problems concerning income distribution are still very serious.

The government will take further steps to adjust taxes for high-income groups, strictly standardize supervision of pay and bonuses for senior management in state-owned enterprises and financial institutions, Wen said.

The proportion of middle-income groups will be expanded, and the incomes of low-income groups will be raised, according to the premier.

In retrospect of the work last year, Wen said the government has done a lot to increase the income of low-income people, as per capita net income of rural residents in real terms registered the fastest growth since 1985, outpacing urban residents for the second straight year.

Minimum wage across the country has been increased significantly last year, so do subsistence allowances for rural and urban residents and subsidies and living allowances for some entitled groups, according to Wen.

The central government last year set the new poverty line at 2,300 yuan ($365), an increase of 92 percent over 2009. This resulted in more low-income people being covered by the government's poverty reduction program.