The nationwide campaign to deal with the debt issue in the construction industry has been proceeding smoothly and is being prioritized by the government, said Vice-Premier Zeng Peiyan Tuesday.

The vice premier addressed a State Council conference about the issue, calling on them to set up a long-term, efficient mechanism to prevent such problems.

Zeng urged governments in the developed eastern region of the country to end the problem completely in 2005, while other parts of the country should resolve the problem initially. Local governments should allocated special funds for the purpose, he said.

He also urged non-government debtors to speed up their pace in dealing with the problem of delayed payments. The government should step up supervision of the real estate market and companies, he noted.

According to the meeting, during the past year, governments at different levels have been dealing the problem nationwide, involving a total debt of 186 billion yuan (about 22.4 billion US dollars).

So far, 80 percent of the money owed by the central government-funded projects has been paid, while the effort to deal with the same problem caused by local governments is proceeding with a "good beginning."

As of February 4, a total of 33.4 billion yuan (about 4 billion US dollars) has been paid to transient workers from rural areas, accounting for a lion's share of the money owed to this vulnerable group of people who are the backbone of the country's construction force.

Source: Xinhua