China Targets 7% Annual Growth of Per Capita Income

BEIJING, Mar.7 -- China has targeted seven percent of annual growth of urban per capita disposable income and rural per capita net income for the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-2015), Premier Wen Jiabao said in his government work report delivered Saturday at the parliament's annual session.

"We will strive to coordinate increases in people's incomes with economic development and increases in workers pay with improvements in labor productivity," Wen said.

He added that the government will make increasing employment the foremost objective of economic and social development, create equitable job opportunities for the entire workforce, and create an extra 45 million urban jobs over the next five years.

China will also continue to raise social security benefits. The basic pension insurance and basic medical insurance systems will cover all urban and rural residents in five years, said the premier.

Further, low-income housing will be made available to around 20 percent of the country's urban households.