The Beijing municipal government spent a total of 11.18 billion yuan (about US$1.438 billion) in rural development in 2006, when over 70 percent of government spending for education, culture and health went to rural areas, an official said Tuesday.

Li Jinshan, head of Beijing Municipal Rural Affairs Commission told a press conference at Beijing Olympic Media Center that for the first time in history, Beijing's fixed-asset investment in rural areas surpassed that in urban areas.

According to Li, a new socialist countryside that the government strives to build is envisaged to feature economic development, farmers' well-being, increasing civility, clean and tidy environment and democratic administration.

With an aim to increase farmers' income, the government helped them nurture new and leading industries, bringing about a number of industrial clusters, covering dairy cattle, pork, chicken, water melon, vegetable and grain. Li urged farmers to improve the quality of their products and offer them to participants of the 2008 Olympic Games, in an effort to widen income-earning ways.

At the moment, Li said, farmers are learning how to diversify their industrial structure by expanding the service component and taking in high technologies. Water and energy-saving concepts are being promoted and practiced Drinking water safety and sewage and garbage treatment are being put on the agenda. New operation and maintenance mechanisms are being introduced to public utility area. For instance, 10,000 water management assistants and 4,000 road maintenance assistants have been employed.

In a pilot project, government officials at urban and district or county levels have selected 130 out of the 4,000 administrative villages and helped them to draw up plans to boost infrastructure construction and industry-specific development. In 2007, another 200 villages are expected to join the rank.