President Hu Jintao spent the International Labor Day visiting farmers and workers in central China's Henan Province.

Talking with some farmers in the wheat field in the outskirts of Nanyang City, Hu assured them that the government will carry on the bottom price for grain procurement, and the grain price this year will be no lower than that in 2006.

Since 2004 China has practiced a bottom price system for grain procurement to ensure stable grain production, safeguard farmers' interests and protect their enthusiasm for farming.

Hu told farmers that the central government will continue the favorable agricultural policies and make more efforts to ensure that farmers, especially grain farmers, get real benefits.

"We have to rely on ourselves to resolve the problem of feeding the 1.3 billion people. The most important thing is to protect farmers' enthusiasm for farming," the president said.

China's grain output grew for the third consecutive year to reach 497 million tons last year, up 2.8 percent or 13 million tons over 2005.

During his Henan tour from April 30 to May 1, Hu visited local factories and a police emergency call center, extending his greetings to the people who were still working during the holiday.

He also visited a residential community in Zhengzhou and talked with retired residents.

Before wrapping up his two-day tour, Hu urged provincial officials to care more about people's concerns and take more measures to ensure a solid and rapid growth of the economy.

(Xinhua News Agency May 2, 2007)