China's "Spark Program" which is aimed at popularizing modern technology in rural areas has been spread to more than 90 percent of the country's counties, the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) announced Sunday.

"Since the program started in 1986, the ministry has carried out more than 150,000 technological programs nationwide, including nearly 20,000 state-level projects, which have played a key role in advancing technological skills of Chinese farmers," said MOST minister Xu Guanhua.

Xu said the plan aims to help Chinese farmers find better jobs in agricultural sector and it was imperative to provide farmers with more opportunities to learn modern technology.

A national census showed that 90 percent of about 900 million Chinese farmers have never received high school education. Only 5 percent of the rural labor population has received formal and institution-based technological training.

Liu Yanhua, vice-minister of the MOST, said the "Spark Program" has contributed to improving the capability of young rural people by upgrading grass-roots their technological skills, building a nationwide network for distance education and encouraging rural enterprises to join international competition.

China hopes to fundamentally restructure the rural economy and modernize farming while at the same time help more farmers find other jobs in cities.

Local governments have altogether invested 14.3 billion yuan (US$1.79 billion) while public sponsorships have contributed 363.1 billion yuan (US$45.4 billion) into the program.

(Xinhua News Agency October 16, 2006)