China's top decision makers said on Sunday that the country had set a goal to double the per capita income of rural residents by 2020, based on the 2008 level.

The income goal was part of the decision made at the close of the third Plenary Session of the 17th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, which focused on issues concerning rural reform and development.

Hu Jintao, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, delivered a work report at the plenum, which was held from October 9 to 12 in Beijing.

The four-day meeting also decided to boost consumption of rural residents by a big margin and basically eliminate absolute poverty in rural areas by 2020.

The country's per capita income of rural residents was recorded at 4,140 yuan (about US$591.4) in 2007. The rural population mired in absolute poverty was reduced to 15 million, down from 250 million in 1978.

Some delegates to the 17th CPC National Congress who have been working on agriculture and rural development at the grass roots, and experts and scholars on agriculture, rural areas and farmers also attended the plenum.

(Xinhua News Agency October 12, 2008)