China's rural reform: Looking inward (and a little bit outward)

April 16, 2010 | BY

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The great and growing divide between China's rural and urban populations has always been close to the hearts of President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister…

The great and growing divide between China's rural and urban populations has always been close to the hearts of President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiaobao. Since late 2008, the government has funnelled the majority of its US$600 billion economic stimulus package into the rural areas of the west.

But it's still not enough.

Younger generations aren't interested in remaining in impoverished villages. They leave for work in the cities, and even then there aren't enough to keep up with the demand. Last month, Keith Bradsher wrote in the New York Times: “China has drained its once vast reserves of unemployed workers in rural areas and is running out of fresh labourers for its factories.”

This exodus uncovers a disturbing trend that simply isn't sustainable into the decades ahead: Farmers are growing older with no one to pass their skills on to and no one to manage their land. Over half of China's 1.3 billion population are rural inhabitants, but this is beginning to shrink noticeably as many trade sowing and harvesting for factory work in the cities.

The government recognises this issue of emigration from rural areas. So it's resolved to pump more money into making the countryside an attractive place to live and work. With a wider scope of incentives introduced through policies, hopefully the changes will convince the young people to stay.

In this issue, law professor Weiqi Cheng from the City University of Hong Kong shares with us how the Chinese government has continued to push forth its reform policies and issued a guiding opinion on how to improve agricultural output, enhance the lifestyles of farmers and speed up rural and urban integration.

I do think this is probably China's greatest challenge in the coming half-century. Even though reforms began back in the late 1970s, it's a colossal task to modernise and enhance the Chinese countryside enough to keep its population from drifting to urban landscapes. It's not purely about tangible reforms either; the Chinese mind needs to be convinced that there is opportunity and benefit in agriculture and the rural areas.

Wen has referred to farmers as the “lifeline” of the country's economy several times, but when statistics reveal that the rural per capita net income is less than a third of its urban equivalent, it's probably quite difficult for a farmer to believe.

As this is my first issue editing for CLP, I am excited and honoured to be taking this publication forward. We are expecting to re-launch later on this year, so please feel free to let me know using the contact details below if you have any opinions or suggestions for how we can be more relevant to you.

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