According to the NBS, Chinese farmers spent 362 yuan (US$43.7) per capita on food, a rise of 4.3 percent year-on-year.

Due to increasing numbers of farmers being employed as workers, rural dwellers' per capita spending on meals away from their home villages soared 19.1 percent year-on-year, reaching 49 yuan (US$5.9), the NBS said.

In the nine-month period, farmers spent 127 yuan (US$15.3) per capita on housing, up 6 percent from the same period last year.

Durable goods cost rural dwellers 21 yuan (US$2.5) per capita, up 14.2 percent year-on-year, reversing a drop in spending on such items in the same period of 2001.

Chinese farmers spent 89 yuan (US$10.8) per capita on transport and communications, a rise of 15.2 percent year-on-year.

Fees for education cost Chinese farmers 124 yuan (15 US dollars)per capita, up 9.1 percent, becoming an important factor in the overall increase in farmer spending, NBS said.

(Xinhua News Agency October 31, 2002)