Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (
Wen outlined steps to cut taxes and increase subsidies in rural areas -- home to 800 million of China's 1.3 billion people -- that have lagged the wealthy cities and coastal regions.
"Solving the problems of agriculture, villages and farmers is one of the most crucial parts of our entire work," Wen told the opening of the National People's Congress as he stood under a huge red and gold national seal.
The government fears a widening wealth gap, driven by blistering economic growth, could spark social unrest and undermine its authority over the country's 1.3 billion people and Wen set a growth target of 7 percent for this year.
Wen laid out a stark list of challenges facing the world's sixth-largest economy -- excessive and haphazard investment, redundant construction, strains between supply and demand in energy, transport and raw materials, a drop in grain production and illegal appropriation of farm land.
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