The Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) met in Beijing Friday to look at ways to more fairly distribute incomes in society.

CPC General Secretary Hu Jintao presided over the meeting.

A news release from the meeting said that China should uphold and improve the system in which distribution according to work is dominant and coexists with other modes of distribution.

The release said future reforms should concentrate on increasing incomes of poorer people, expanding the moderate-income population, effectively taxing high-income earners and banning illegal income.

The discussion was aimed at finding ways to narrow the income gap between people in different regions and within certain social sectors.

The government will deepen its reform on the income system of civil servants, and government employees should be paid according to their occupation and rank and a unified standard should be adopted, the released said.

It said the country will adequately increase the incomes of government workers at the grassroots level.

It also stressed that people working in remote areas should be provided subsidies and the incomes of employees of enterprises and its retirees also need to be improved.

Basic pensions, subsidies provided to retirees of enterprises should be properly raised, it said.

(Xinhua News Agency May 27, 2006)