BEIJING - President Xi Jinping said China needs to make breakthrough on coordinated development between urban and rural areas, so as to enable farmers to participate in the country's development process on an equal footing and share fruits of economic growth.

The president was speaking during a collective study session of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee's Political Bureau on improving mechanisms and institutions for the integrated development of urban and rural areas on Thursday afternoon.

The most arduous task for China to comprehensively build a moderately prosperous society lies in the vast rural areas, especially in those impoverished rural areas, Xi said.

With more efforts and investment, China ought to make decisive breakthroughs in integrating development in urban and rural areas, especially in breaking up the dual urban-rural economic structure, promoting equal trade of production factors and balanced allocation of public resources, he said.

As one of China's most prominent development targets, the country aims to build "a moderately prosperous society in all aspects" by 2020, but the gap between rural and urban populations remains large, especially between the poorest and most remote parts and the booming megacities.