More than two-thirds of China's 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions are granting subsidies to farmers who purchased agricultural machinery, said a Ministry of Agriculture official at a conference in east China's Shandong Province.

He attributed the regions' subsidies to the policies issued by the central government at beginning of this year, which stipulate that efforts should be made to support agriculture sector.
   
The central government will increase its direct subsidy for farming machinery purchase this year, said the official. The central government put in 70 million yuan (US$8.4 million) for the farming machinery subsidy, and local governments provided 400 million yuan (US$48.2 million) for the same purpose in2004.

(Xinhua News Agency February 28, 2005)