Beijing (AsiaNews) – At the National People's Congress under way in the capital, the Prime Minister, Wen Jiabao, yesterday indicated the ground to be covered to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor and to tackle misery in rural areas.

In what he described as "epoch-making" move, Wen promised 339 billion yuan (more than 33 billion euros) over five years to improve the situation of 800 million peasants and to curb social unrest. In recent decades, the country's economic development has always focused on the cities, depopulating rural areas and reducing them to third-world conditions. Part of the investment will be pumped into education structures while another chunk will go to improving the health care system in rural areas. According to a survey by the China Youth Daily, around 50% of peasants and poor people in cities say education expenses for their children are the highest on their family budget: more than 30% of the income of rural families is spent on schooling. As for health, the majority of people cannot go to hospital for treatment because they cannot afford the medical expenses.

The government will allocate 4.2 billion yuan (420 million euros) to develop a health insurance scheme to cover 40% of rural areas. The scheme provides for a contribution of 40 yuan per person, to which will be added 10 yuan paid by each peasant. Many analysts say the money voted will not be enough, given the neglect of recent decades. Chinese experts say the investment in rural areas is proportionally less than that made in 1978. Besides, the scheme has some defects: it does not cover all expenses and obliges peasants to use mostly rural health services, notoriously dilapidated. In the leadership plan, investment in rural areas could create a new domestic market, given that the Chinese economy, to this day, is unbalanced in favour of exports.

Wen also said more effort was required to protect the land and homes of peasants and private owners from expropriation by local leaders and unscrupulous businessman. To this end, the approval of a law to defend the inviolability of private property had been on the agenda, but now it is no longer on the list of items to be tackled.

Despite this, Wen said the government will continue social and political reforms, throwing his weight behind the reformist wing within the party.

The planned 14% increase in military spending, which will reach 280.72 billion yuan (around 28 billion euros), is likely to give rise to apprehension in the Taiwanese and Asian world. This is the highest increase in the last 10 years, even if officials of the People's Liberation Army say China's military spending is low compared to that of the US, Great Britain, Japan and France, and that funds are mainly used to increase soldiers' salaries.

On the Taiwan problem, Wen said Beijing would "uncompromisingly" oppose any moves by the island towards independence, drawing warm applause from the floor. Meanwhile, China will continue to support the chief executives of regions under special administration, especially Hong Kong and Macau, and will promote further economic co-operation.

In a bid to block protests and petitions, police cordoned off the area around the Great Hall of the People and in recent days, they cleared the city of dissidents and protest groups. Today, two people who wanted to let delegates know about their problems – unemployment, expropriation and persecution – were apprehended.

One of them said: "The representatives don't know our real problems. They're in heaven, and we're on earth. There's a wall between us."