Chinese farmers' cash income from selling agricultural products increased 18.9 percent year-on-year in the first six months, according to a sample survey by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

NBS figures show that the average cash income of Chinese farmers rose 16.1 percent to 1,345 yuan (162 US dollars) in the first six months, 447 yuan of which was salary income, 589 yuan of which was income through selling farm produces and 210 of which was income from industrial and service sectors.

In the first half of 2004, the per capita fee and tax burden upon farmers was worth 11.5 yuan, down 27.2 percent year on year, according to the survey.

The NBS conducted the survey on 68,000 rural families in 31 provincial regions across the country.