Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said on Saturday that narrowing the gap between the rich and the poor could not be achieved "in a static state" and should be conducted alongside with economic development.

Wen was in response to a question about the income gap while chatting with netizens at the central government website (www.gov.cn)."

Wen acknowledged that China's social and economic development does have the problem of "imbalanced, discordant and unsustainable" growth.

The major problem is the imbalance between different regions, between the urban and the rural areas and the income imbalance, he said.

"A just society should enable all citizens enjoy the fruits of reform and development," he said.

Wen went on quoting Adam Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments, saying that if the wealth of a society is concentrated in the hands of a small number of people, then this is against the popular will, and the society is bound to be unstable.

"Therefore, we are highly concerned with the problem of the gap between the rich and the poor," he said.

He said he didn't believe justice and equality could be achieved without social development.

"Only by development and progress, could people be helped out of poverty," said Wen, promising the government will gradually narrow the gap between the rich and the poor on track of economic development.

Wen said the problems facing agriculture, rural areas and farmers are high on the agenda of the Chinese Party and government and the problems also concern the foundation of China's economic development.

To increase farmers' income, Wen said China will continue to increase subsidy to farmers. "Various subsidies to farmers reached 10.28 billion yuan (US$1.51 billion) last year and the figure will reach 12 billion yuan this year," he said.

China will also increase grain price by a big margin to protect farmers from the impact of international grain price drop, Wen said.

Other measures include 40 billion yuan in subsidy to farmers who buy home appliances, farming vehicles and motor vehicles, Wen said. The policy was designed to stimulate rural consumption to boost domestic demand as exports weaken amid the financial crisis.

(Xinhua News Agency February 28, 2009)