CHINA-FORUM/RURAL

A vendor eats his meal, next to sacks of garlic, on the outskirts of Xining in northwestern China's Qinghai province December 22, 2006. "Rural incomes have not increased, even though prices for agricultural products have been rising since October, meaning that the urban-rural income gap has expanded," Ma Xiaohe, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission's Academy of Macroeconomic Research, said during a meeting. Picture taken December 22, 2006. REUTERS/Simon Zo (CHINA)