But, I believe, vast rural areas are extremely short of financial products, and rich farmers' investment awareness is growing.

Of course, the first step forward should not be too big. First, securities brokerage outlets can be set up in rich townships and villages, focusing on those who make big money. The important thing is to strengthen education on risk prevention in the stock market. Maybe it will be more difficult to do than in the cities, but it's a must.

Lao Liang (www.cnstock.com): Giving farmers broader access to securities investment will boost private investment. More importantly, farmers will be no longer limited to conventional methods of saving money. What they pass on to their offspring now is no longer bank deposits and houses, but negotiable notes.

The stock market is risky, so investors must be cautious and they need to be responsible for their own losses. But by no means should they be cut off just because it is risky. A good investment concept matters a lot.

Don't cheat farmers

Pi Haizhou (Beijing Times): Different from government incentive policies for farmers to buy electric household appliances and vehicles, which can bring tangible benefits, rapid development of securities brokerage services in rural areas is very likely to harm farmers' interests if launched now.

Many farmers, even those doing manual jobs in cities, don't have basic wealth management knowledge. Usually the least well-off people need channels to increase the value of their wealth the most. But China's stock market is not an ideal place for farmers to invest their money. It is still a casino-like market, featuring aggressive fund-raising by listed companies and losses for most investors. It is widely said only 10 percent of stock investors in China make profits, 20 percent can break even and 70 percent suffer losses.

Guiding farmers into such a high-risk market is not wise. After all, farmers don't only lack necessary financial knowledge but also risk-resistance capacity. In a speculative stock market, farmers are more likely to lose their money than urban residents. If they get stuck in the quagmire of failed investment attempts, not only do their dreams of becoming rich evaporate but also normal agricultural activities will be adversely affected. In these cases, the program would profoundly hinder the country's interests.

Of course, we are aware many farmers have already become investors in the stock market. It has been a long time since well-to-do farmers traveled to cities to buy stocks. But this situation can't justify the policy of encouraging farmers to invest in stocks, even if such a policy could facilitate investment by this group of farmers.

Farmers who come to cities to buy stocks are better-off with an amount of financial risk-resistance capacity and some knowledge of securities investment. Therefore, they won't necessarily lose their money. Even if they did lose money, it wouldn't affect their lives. However, a stock market next door would attract both the well-off and poor.

Zeng Ruoyu (www.chinavalue.net): Besides providing an investment option, another important function of China's capital market is to allocate resources. For most of the time, China's capital market hasn't fulfilled this function well since capital has failed to flow into the most capital thirsty sectors while big state-owned-enterprises, which already have more than adequate capital, occupy the majority resources.

Overall, China's rural economy is underdeveloped. The majority areas of the countryside in China's central and western regions have suffered from insufficient government financial support for a long time. The construction of capital infrastructure and development of township enterprises in rural areas both badly need capital injections.

But developing securities brokerage services in rural areas would only divert financial resources away from already-backward rural areas, which will harm rural development and turn out to be a wrong policy.

Zhao Guangrui (www.gmw.cn): We know in some countries as many as 60 percent of adult farmers hold stocks, but it doesn't work that way in China. Stock markets in those countries are closely monitored according to complicated laws and regulations and many stocks have the potential of high returns. But that is not the case in China, where stock market regulation is loose and stock prices are often manipulated by a small number of people.

In such a badly regulated market, stock prices are largely uncertain. It wouldn't be too late to develop securities brokerage services in rural areas when China's stock market becomes much more developed and possesses absolute investment value.

People should invest in the stock market with their spare cash. Even if there are losses, basic living won't be compromised. Chinese farmers generally have low incomes and only small savings, which they need for building new houses, paying for medical care or their basic living when they are old. They have very little money to invest in the stock market.

With low living standards, farmers in China are entitled to more care and assistance from society instead of highly risky investment products.