China raises machinery subsidies to help farmers, returning migrants

China’s State Council, or cabinet, said on Thursday that the central government would allocate 10 billion yuan (1.46 billion U.S. dollars) in subsidies for agricultural machinery purchases next year to help farmers and returning migrants.

At an executive meeting presided over by Premier Wen Jiabao, the council said that "to provide such subsidy could raise the country’s agricultural mechanization level and boost the development of the farm machinery industry and economic development."

The amount of the subsidy was 6 billion yuan more than in 2008,and it will be available to farmers and farm workers across the country.