BEIJING - A total of 24 provincial regions have set targets for the growth of resident income which equal or outpace local GDP growth goals in the 2011-2015 period, an official with China's top economic planning body said Sunday.

Five provincial governments have promised to make the increase of people's income outperform local GDP growth, while another 19 set the same growth rates for GDP and resident income, said Xu Xianping, vice minister of the National Development and Reform Commission.

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Another five provincial regions have pledged to make resident income increase "basically keep pace with" local GDP growth in the same period, he said.

There are 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in the Chinese mainland.

China plans to coordinate the increase of people's income with economic expansion, and the increase of workers' pay with improvements in labor productivity for the 2011-2015 period, underlining its goal of rebalancing economic and social development.

The move signaled an important policy orientation and would exert great influence on China's economy, Xu told a press conference, without elaborating.

To achieve the targets, Xu stressed the necessity of establishing a nationwide social insurance network, ensuring residents' access to medical services and constructing housing projects for middle- and low-income urban households.