China's rural roads support comprehensive development of rural economy, society: white paper

The construction and development of rural roads provides strong support for the comprehensive development of the rural economy and society in China, according to a white paper issued Friday by China's State Council Information Office.

In creating a path to prosperity for rural people, China has taken extraordinary steps and made an enormous effort to expedite the development of rural transport in poor areas, said the white paper titled "China's Rural Roads in the New Era."

Since 2014, more than 1.4 million kilometers of rural roads have been built or upgraded in previously poor areas, all towns, townships and administrative villages where conditions allow had been connected to paved roads by 2019, and all such villages had been connected to bus services by 2020, the white paper said.

Better transport has cleared bottlenecks that had long delayed economic and social development in poor areas, and has laid a solid foundation for rural people to realize moderate prosperity in all respects, it said.

According to the white paper, the steady development of transport facilities in rural areas has attracted more capital, projects and talents to the countryside, creating more job opportunities and broadening the avenues for income growth.

At present, rural road construction projects provide work for about 80,000 people in need as a form of relief, enabling an annual average per capita income increase of around 8,500 yuan (about 1,182.57 U.S. dollars), according to the white paper.

About 850,000 jobs are provided in rural road management and maintenance, offering an annual average per capita income of approximately 13,000 yuan (more than 1,796 U.S. dollars), it said.

In advancing rural revitalization across the board, the government continues to integrate rural roads into the overall economic development of rural areas, by supporting modernization of rural industries, boosting rural tourism and making efficient use of distinctive resources in rural areas, according to the white paper.

The rural road development also helps create a beautiful and harmonious countryside by allowing the extension of basic public services to the rural areas and accelerating urban-rural exchanges and integration, the white paper said.

China's rural roads support comprehensive development of rural economy, society: white paper

Japanese experts said that the ruling coalition of the country will face considerable challenges and uncertainties in future political and economic governance as it loses majority in the lower house. 

Japan's Diet convened for an extraordinary session on Thursday. The focus will be on reviewing the supplementary budget for fiscal year 2024 and discussions on amending the Political Funds Control Act.

The session will be the first full-fledged debate since the governing coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito Party lost their majority in last month's lower house election.

Shozaburo Sakai, former president of Chuo University, a leading Japanese university in Tokyo, said as a minority government, the ruling coalition will face great challenges in promoting political and economic reforms.

"The Ishiba administration, which is in power as a minority, now relies most on winning the support of public opinion. Because the administration has become a minority in the lower house, it may face a challenge of a no-confidence motion at any time. If a no-confidence motion is proposed [by the opposition party], the minority government might be overthrown at any time," he said. 

Sakai said that the current domestic prices in Japan has continued to rise, the cost of living for the people continues to rise, and raising the policy interest rate and curbing the depreciation of the yen are direct means to deal with rising prices. 

However, under the influence of the previous long-term negative interest rate policy, the survival of small and medium-sized enterprises in Japan depends on bank loans, and the interest rate hikes are fatal to these enterprises, according to Sakai. 

"The Ishiba administration needs to consider the cost of living of the people, so in order to curb price increases, it needs to guide the yen to appreciate steadily. However, if the yen is guided to appreciate, small and medium-sized enterprises will be in trouble and may even go bankrupt, which creates a difficult situation," he said. 

Japan's ruling coalition to face multiple governing challenges: expert