Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said Tuesday that China will streamline township governments to keep farmer's taxes at a minimum and build clean and efficient grassroots governments.

Addressing a two-day national meeting, which closed Tuesday, on rural taxation and fee reform, the premier said China will quicken its pace of creating a transparent and efficient township administrative system and operating mechanism with standard code of conduct.

He said China will continue its educational reform in rural areas to ensure a stable increase of budget funding for compulsory nine-year education.

Governments above the county level should shoulder more of the responsibility for increasing budget funding for rural education, said Wen.

Wen said that China will continue to reform its fiscal management system at both township and county levels and improve its fiscal system below provincial level to consolidate the financial position of both county and township governments.

The premier said China will improve its system of fiscal transfer of payment and better the practices of rewarding and subsidizing financially difficult county and township governments.

He said that local governments should increase the ratio of their spending on public goods and services.

In financially difficult counties where the agricultural tax has been abolished, the premier said, wages of government employees and teachers should be paid on time and in full, and normal operation of grassroots governments should be ensured.

China is expected to phase out agricultural tax by the end of next year, and 26 of the country's 31 provincial regions have or will scrap the tax by the end of this year.

The premier said China should continue its efforts to alleviate financial burden on farmers through enforcing the established rules.

(Xinhua News Agency June 8, 2005)