By staff reporter Han Wei

From the Caijing Annual Conference

Farmers are the worst hit by the current economic slowdown in China, according to rural economy experts at the Caijing Annual Conference on December 13.

Liu Shouying, researcher at the State Council's Development Research Center, said that the current global financial turmoil has shaken China's economy, which has been export-oriented since 1998. The slowdown in business has affected a large number of industry employees, of which significant portions are migrant workers from rural regions.

Deputy Secretary of China Development Research Foundation, Tang Min, shared a similar view, "the financial crisis has caused about 20 percent of China’s current 200 million rural migrant workers to lose their jobs, which means that more than 40 million workers from rural regions have been affected."

According to Liu, rural migrant workers have been the major force driving China’s rapid economic growth during the past decades. However, in response to the current crisis, while the government has taken measures to support suffering companies, it doesn't mean that the large number of migrant workers will also be granted policy support and protection.

"This segment of the population has long been involved in China's industrialization progress. If we can't solve their issues properly, it will have a negative impact on China's future economic development," said Liu.

Liu made two suggestions to resolve the problems of rural migrant workers. The first is to help workers with stable earnings in urban areas to receive urban residential status. And the second is to provide training for rural workers who have lost their jobs in order to help them become skilled workers.

Unemployment has become the main obstacle blocking China's goal of boosting farmers' incomes. According to Song Hongyuan, deputy director of the Research Center for Rural Economy under the Ministry of Agriculture, about 40 percent of Chinese farmers' incomes are now from migrant work. But under the current wave of job cuts, together with existing discrimination between rural and urban job hunters, farmers are increasingly losing job opportunities and income. At the same time, prices of agricultural products are in decline.

The Chinese government has recently set a target to double farmers' incomes by 2020, which means that their net income must grow at an average annual rate of 5.95 percent over the next 12 years. However, Song said it may be quite challenging for China to achieve this goal under current circumstances.

To improve farmers' livelihoods Tang Min suggested that, in addition to ensuring the employment of rural migrant workers, a comprehensive social welfare system covering the vast rural regions should be built as soon as possible.

Experts agreed that China's rural development depends largely on the country's progress towards urbanization and industrialization. If the government can work effectively to minimize the gap between urban and rural regions, as well as achieve balanced industrialization, more farmers will remain involved in and benefit from the progress of social transformation.

Experts also claimed that the recently announced 4 trillion yuan stimulus package should pay more attention to improving and developing rural infrastructure as well as the livelihood of migrant workers.

Li Tie, director of the China Center for Town Reform and Development under the NDRC, said that "by supporting the creative group of migrant workers, the stimulus package will substantially realize its goal to boost domestic consumption and stabilize employment."