[photopress:it_rural_china.jpg,full,alignright]A survey shows better rural facilities: but it is still a major divide although this is less so in technology.
The National Bureau of Statistics has released its first report based on the 2006 census. It shows that rural infrastructure and social services have improved remarkably in recent years.
Some figures of percentage of villages with:
Access to tap water: 48.6%.
Access to road links: 95.5%.
Garbage treatment facilities: 15.8%
Telephone services, electricity: 98.7%.
TV broadcasting: 97.6%.
Clinics: 74.3%.
Per capita income: RMB4,140($580) about a third of that earned by urban residents.
For every 100 households in rural areas, there were 87.3 television sets, 51.9 fixed-line telephones, 69.8 mobile phones, 2.2 computers, 38.2 motorbikes and 3.4 automobiles.
You can make the assumption that connections to the Internet are through an Internet cafe but not yet through mobile phones although with those figures and a change in technology that may well be the way to go.
Du Zhixiong, a researcher at the Rural Development Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). said, ‘The figures show the government’s increased spending to improve rural livelihoods has started to pay off.’
The central government plans to increase its budget for rural investment by more than a fourth to RMB520 billion ($72.8 billion) this year.
The latest census, the second of its kind, was conducted among more than 650,000 villages and nearly 230 million households.
Source: China Daily
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