Rural Revolution

2018-05-14 16:20ByLanXinzhen
Beijing Review 2018年18期

By Lan Xinzhen

Chinas reform and opening up, which mark their 40th anniversary this year, were fi rst carried out in the countrys rural areas.

The Peoples Republic of China adopted a planned economy system in the first three decades after its founding in 1949. Industrial and agricultural work was conducted in accordance with the governments plans. Planning authorities decided on when to plant in the fi elds and what to plant, not the farmers themselves.

With production and living resources controlled by the collective, farmers became demotivated to work. This slowed down rural economic development. In most cases, farmers succumbed to insufficient food supply despite their hard work throughout the year.

It was the household responsibility system, which allows the redistribution of collective lands and farm tools to individual farmers in the form of contracts, that made a difference.

The system was extracted from farmers own attempts. In late 1978, 18 farmers in Xiaogang Village, east Chinas Anhui Province, signed a secret agreement to divide collectively owned farmland into individual plots. They agreed that after turning in grants to the state, the rest would be given to their contractors. This exercise greatly fueled the farmerspassion for work, which was reflected by a surge in grain production. Confirmed by the central authorities, the same practice was implemented throughout the country.

As independent working entities, farmers were no longer subject to collective business accounting and distribution, but were part of an invigorated rural economy. Continuous grain harvests boosted agricultural product supplies. By the early 1980s, China could provide suffi cient food to feed its population.

The household responsibility system is a mixture featuring both collective and individual ownership. This is an innovation in the process of Chinas rural reform. It is also a great contribution to broader reforms in the country, on which economic restructuring in urban areas was built.

In the 1980s, reform and opening up began to unfold in cities. Private enterprises were encouraged while state-run enterprises were reformed amid the transition to a market economy.

As a result of rising productivity, the labor demand in rural areas contracted, producing a large surplus of labor. A large number of farmers migrated to cities for work.

An ever-growing gap between rural and urban areas in terms of incomes and living conditions has led to prosperous cities and declining villages.

However, as a huge agricultural country, issues relating to agriculture, rural areas and rural people are fundamental to China as they directly concern the countrys stability and its peoples well-being. The Chinese Government has crafted an array of polices to boost the development of agriculture and rural areas as well as improve farmers living conditions, such as the abolition of the agricultural tax and the offering of various subsidies to crop producers.

The rural vitalization strategy is a new approach to solving the agro-economic challenges in Chinas countryside. It is an upgraded version of previous rural reform efforts. President Xi Jinping elaborated on the strategy at the Central Economic Work Conference in December 2017.

The rural vitalization strategy envisages strong agriculture, a beautiful countryside and well-off farmers. It combines improvements of the systems and mechanisms for rural development, supply-side structural reform in the agricultural sector and the construction of the Internet and other modern infrastructure facilities in the countryside. The strategy lays out a blueprint for the modernization of Chinas rural areas.

To deepen reform in all respects is a priority of the Chinese Government. Chinas reform and opening up has entered a deep water zone where tough challenges must be met, while on the other hand, the strategy of rural revitalization is a reform conducted at this critical stage of development.

From the household responsibility system to the rural revitalization strategy, this showcases the continuity and resilience of Chinas reform and opening-up efforts. Now that the countrys door is open, it will not be closed, but will only open wider.