The coastal province ranks fourth in gross domestic product (GDP) in China, with the per capita income of its farmers the highest in the country for 16 consecutive years, said Zhang, a delegate to the ongoing 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

He echoed the point made by General Secretary Jiang Zemin at the congress that "at all times and under all circumstances the Party should ... regard the people's interests as the starting point and goal of all work."

Zhang said Zhejiang has always put the people's interests first when making policies, launching projects.

"If the streams flowing to a river are full of water, the river itself will teem with water," he said.

The self-employed and private businesses are able to thrive and create a galaxy of wealthy entrepreneurs in Zhejiang because of the province's bold steps in ensuring that business people in non-public sectors have "material benefits, social status and political credit."

A province boasting the most dynamic private economy, Zhejiang had registered 1.79 million private firms by the end of last year, compared with only 2,000 in 1978, Zhang said.

The booming non-public sector contributed 43.5 percent of provincial GDP last year, in addition to increasing local revenues, creating more jobs, and adding to the coffers of urban and rural residents.

To substantially increase the income of farmers, the province has encouraged farmers to cut acreage for grain production, reserve more farmland for cash crops and develop rural enterprises.

As a result, rural residents in Zhejiang are increasingly deriving their income from selling high quality farm produce and non-farming sectors, Zhang said.

The per capita income of farmers hit 4,582 yuan (US$552) last year - more than twice the national average.

Urban residents also saw their per capita income increase to 10,465 yuan (US$1,260) last year, ranking third at national level, revealed the latest statistics of the provincial government.

Provincial revenues amounted to 85.6 billion yuan (US$10.3 billion) last year - the fifth largest in the country.

(China Daily November 13, 2002)