A local villager snatches counterfeit goods to be destroyed at a landfill on the outskirts of Xuzhou city, East China's Jiangsu province, March 10, 2015. [Photo/IC]

The problem is further complicated because small eateries and stalls near the gates of primary schools in rural areas sell all kinds of weird beverages and snacks, which children find irresistible because of lack of proper parental guidance on food safety. The latest victims of such spurious products are two children in Jiujiang, Jiangxi province, East China - rashes broke out in their mouths after they ate a spicy snack which their grandparents had bought from a stall for 20 fen each on March 10.

The government is obliged to protect consumers from spurious and harmful products, and ensure the safety of food. So while promoting consumption to boost domestic economic growth, the government should focus not only on better-off urban residents, but also on farmers.

In fact, protecting people in rural areas is more important than those in cities, because the former are more vulnerable to fall victim to ill practices.

This calls for product quality watchdogs to supervise and monitor the production and sale of goods in rural areas throughout the year, instead of swinging into action only during major festivals and holidays, as well as educate rural consumers how to safeguard against dangers. The watchdogs should also take measures to ensure that makers and sellers of substandard and counterfeit products are punished.

Rural people opt for cheap or cheaper products because their incomes are low. China still has about 200 million farmers who survive on less than $1.25 a day, the poverty line drawn by the World Bank. The average individual disposable income of farmers is less than half of what people in urban areas earn, with the welfare gap between farmers and city residents remaining wide.

Rural people, particularly farmers, have made great contributions to China's fast economic growth, yet they have not received the economic benefits they deserve. Besides, the urbanization drive has lowered the social status of farmers; they are treated as inferior to city dwellers when it comes to social welfare. The government should, therefore, issue regulations to protect farmers' property rights over their land and help them use these rights to earn tangible profits.

The government should also allocate more funds to strengthen education, and improve infrastructure and social welfare in rural areas to help farmers enjoy their due share of benefits emerging from the country's fast economic growth.

The author is a writer with China Daily. liyang@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 03/14/2015 page8)