At the ongoing Fifth Session of the Ninth National People's Congress (NPC), calls are growing for a stronger impetus to China's non-farming sectors to spur on the incomes of farmers which have been relatively stagnant over the past few years.

Analysts said uncertainties over whether China's huge farm population can expect a robust surge in their incomes this year still remain. But they are certain that if the slow growth pace continues, it is sure to detract from the nation's overall economic performance.

With gloomy prospects for exports amidst a slackened global economy, domestic demand is expected to be the main engine of China's economic growth, which is to reach 7 per cent this year, according to targets set by the Chinese Government.

Peking University professor Xiao Zhuoji said the expansion of domestic demand depends largely on exploring new markets, especially in the countryside, where most of China's population lives.

"To expand domestic demand, an important measure is to raise the incomes and lessen the burden on farmers," Xiao said.

"We must strive for a 4 per cent increase in rural incomes this year, " said Zeng Peiyan, minister of the State Development Planning Commission, at the annual NPC session.

So the question is whether China's hundreds of millions of farmers can live up to such high expectations.

Wu Jinglian, a renowned economist, said the key lies in pushing forward the development of non-farming production which can create more jobs for surplus labourers from rural areas.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture, China's surplus of rural labourers is expected to increase by over 8 million annually, in part due to the country's World Trade Organization (WTO) reforms. Experts, however, have placed the number of fewer job openings for farmers resulting from China's entry into the global trade body closer to 20 million. Lu Feng, a senior researcher at the China Centre for Economic Research at Peking University, called the further development of non-farming sectors "one of the factors resulting in the uncertainties lingering on China's rural economy."

He also appealed for more efforts to be pooled into the nation's township enterprises.

Zhu Lizhi, a senior expert from the Rural Economy Institute under the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, agreed with Lu, adding that China's agricultural sector will be greatly impacted by its WTO accession.

Apart from common concerns for non-farming sectors, economists also called attention to the treatment of the country's farmers, especially those working in urban areas.

The per capita income of Chinese farmers rose 4.2 per cent year-on-year to 2,366 yuan (US$286) in 2001, the National Bureau of Statistics said last Tuesday.

Earnings from non-farming sectors climbed to 1,066.4 yuan (US$129), up 6.2 per cent from the 2000 figure, suggesting the growth in farmers' per capita income has finally begun to pick up after several years of decline. Last year's higher growth rate, analysts said, can be attributed mainly to a pickup in the prices of farm produce in the year.

However, growth of rural incomes is still much lower than the 8.5 per cent growth achieved by urban residents, whose income averaged 6,860 yuan (US$829) per capita in 2001.