Agriculture in 2017

Under the leadership of the municipal government, Sanmenxia implemented the guiding principles of the central and provincial rural work conferences in 2017.

The city pushed structural reform of agricultural supply and made efforts to reduce poverty. It also promoted rural economic development and a rising living standard for rural residents. 

The recently enacted measures have led to a rapid increase in the average income and spending power of rural residents in the city.

Characteristics of rural residents' income in 2017

Income growth for rural residents has surpassed that of urban residents. In 2017, the per capita disposable income of rural residents in the city was 13,084.4 yuan ($2073.3), an increase of 9.2 percent year-on-year. This is 0.1 percent higher than that of urban residents in the same period and 1.1 percent higher than in 2016.

Among the four categories of disposable income, three increased and one decreased. Net transfer income contributed the most to income growth. 

From a structural point of view, net transfer income, with the largest contribution to revenue growth, reached 52 percent. Net operating income accounted for the largest proportion of disposable income, reaching 52.7 percent, and its contribution to the growth of disposable income reached 37.4 percent. Income from wages accounted for 31.1 percent of disposable income and contributed 16.3 percent to disposable income growth.

Income from wages is still an important source of income growth for farmers. In an effort to reduce poverty, Sanmenxia has taken measures such as industrial poverty alleviation and employment training to provide local rural residents with more employment and entrepreneurship opportunities, which has greatly boosted their income.

In 2017, the per capita income from wages of rural residents living in the city was 4074.4 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.6 percent, accounting for 16.3 percent of income growth. It increased disposable income by 1.5 percent, which is a crucial factor in income growth for rural residents.

Non-agricultural operations have boosted operating net income growth. In 2017, the per capita net operating income of rural residents living in the city was 6,900.4 yuan, an increase of 6.4 percent year-on-year. Its contribution rate to income growth reached 37.4 percent, increasing disposable income by 3.4 percent. 

In primary industry, the husbandry market has been booming. The prices of cattle and sheep continue to rise. The annual per capita income from animal husbandry was 731.3 yuan, an outstanding year-on-year increase of 29.3 percent.

New industries such as leisure agriculture and rural tourism have increased the operating revenue of tertiary industry, including wholesale, retail, accommodation and catering. In 2017, the per capita net tertiary industry operating income was 2,268.2 yuan, an increase of 23.5 percent over the same period last year. In 2017, tertiary industry income accounted for 17.3 percent of disposable income for rural residents, an increase of 2 percent over the previous year.

Preferential policies for farmers have helped boost their transfer income. In 2017, the per capita net transfer income of rural residents was 2011.1 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 39.8 percent. Its contribution rate to revenue growth was 52.0 percent, which led to a 4.8 percent increase in disposable income. 

Local governments have successively increased rural subsistence allowances, raised rural residents' medical subsidy standards and the proportion of impatient reimbursement, and adjusted rural residents' pension standards. A series of favorable policies have driven transfer income to achieve rapid growth.

With this rapid growth, the government is getting closer to realizing its goal of doubling rural income. 

At current prices, the per capita disposable income of rural residents in the city was 13,084.4 yuan in 2017, 2.2 times that of 2010. According to comparable prices, the real growth rate of per capita disposable income of rural residents from 2011 to 2017 was 13.7 percent, 11.5 percent, 10.5 percent, 10.1 percent, 8.4 percent, 8.9 percent and 8.4 percent, respectively. The actual growth rate throughout across seven years was 93.7 percent. Based on this calculation, the average annual growth rate of per capita disposable income of rural residents will be more than 1.1 percent in the next three years. The income will be doubled by 2020.

The growth rate of rural resident's income is higher than the national and provincial averages, and is located in the middle reaches of the province. In 2017, rural residents' income was 13,084.4 yuan, which was 364.6 yuan more than the provincial average. It ranked 9th among 18 cities, and the growth rate was 0.5 and 0.4 percentage points higher than the national and provincial averages, respectively.

Consumption and quality of life among rural residents continues to improve

In 2017, the per capita consumption expenditure of rural residents in the city was 9,652.5 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.7 percent. As income steadily grows, spending on transportation, communication, clothing and health care among rural residents has increased significantly. The pace of consumer upgrading continued to accelerate. Eight major categories of consumption have emerged.

Traffic, communication, clothing, and health care expenditures increased significantly, growing 28.3 percent, 24.2 percent and 13.5 percent, respectively. The consumption expenditures for housing, food, alcohol, education, culture, entertainment and other supplies and services were the second highest, growing 12.1 percent, 6.9 percent and 3.1 percent and 3.0 percent. Household goods and services had the lowest growth rate at 0.2 percent.

Traffic and communication expenditures lead consumption growth among rural residents. 

In 2017, the per capita expenditure on transportation and communication among rural residents was 1436.9 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 28.3 percent, accounting for 14.9 percent of consumer spending. 

With the gradual improvement of rural transportation and communication infrastructure, as well as the introduction of new products such as automobiles, motorcycles and mobile phones and their declining prices, the growth rate of farmers' transportation and communication consumption expenditure led consumption growth among rural residents.

Development and leisure expenditures have grown faster than basic living expenses. 

The total amount spent on development and leisure, namely communications, education, culture, entertainment and medical care, among rural residents' totaled 3,662.4 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15.2 percent, accounting for 37.9 percent of the total consumer spending. 

The total amount spent on food, tobacco, alcohol, and clothing for basic living was 3,004.2 yuan, an increase of 10.9 percent over the previous year, accounting for 31.4 percent of total consumer spending.

Suggestions on promoting income growth for rural residents

Continue to strengthen policies supporting agriculture and farmers. First, in accordance with the Central Government's policy on supporting farmers and strengthening agriculture, Sanmenxia should focus on supporting the construction of agricultural infrastructure, promote the development of non-agricultural economic elements in the countryside, and strengthen services for agriculture, farmers and rural areas. Second, the city should continue to improve and implement policies such as comprehensive subsidies and risk compensation. Third, it should continue to innovate and improve the rural social endowment insurance system and the minimum living security system, and improve the five guaranteed standards in rural areas.

Develop a highly efficient agricultural industry. Expedite reform of the industrial structure, support the development of high-efficiency agriculture, form a group of characteristic agricultural production and processing bases, and increase employment opportunities for entrepreneurship in order to increase income. Encourage enterprises and some rural residents to contract or lease farmland, carry out large-scale production according to market demand and increase farmer property income through land rent income.

Make efforts to raise the overall income of low-income farmers. According to a survey, the low-income rural households in the city have low income levels, and 20 percent of low-income households earn only 28 percent of the city's average. 

Therefore, the city must continue to formulate and select appropriate poverty alleviation measures and increase employment training. It should improve the quality of life and employment of low-income people, formulate and implement policies to support poor rural areas and low-income villages, and increase the income level of rural households in low-income areas.