Chinese leaders Sunday called for more efforts to accelerate the reform of collective forest rights which helped promote sustainable economic and social development.

The reform was important way of increasing farmers' incomes, and bringing about economic, social and ecological benefits, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said in a written comment to a meeting of local forestry officials held on Sunday.

He said the reform should continue, and related policy should be improved.

In July 2008, China announced the reform which introduced a household contract system in the management of collective forest land and ownership of wood.

So far, 2.18 billion mu (150 million hectares) of collective forest land, 80 percent of the total, had been contracted to farmers. Nearly 300 million rural residents had benefited so far from the reform, according to data released at the meeting.

Vice Premier Hui Liangyu said at the meeting that the reform had helped cut emissions and enhance ecological sustainability. It also vitalized rural economic growth.

He noted the reform had entered a crucial stage, and still faced uneven development in different places.

Authorities needed to improve the forestry rights system, and allow farmers equal rights for forestry contracts, he said.

More policy should be rolled out to protect forestry land and the whole industry.

According to the State Council, production and management of forest land would be entrusted to farmers through 70-year contracts, while the nature of collective ownership remained unchanged. Users of such land could transfer, lease or mortgage their land usage rights within the tenure.

The government planned to complete the reform in five years and form a sound development mechanism for collective forests based on the reform.