Q: After experiencing a decade-long turmoil of the
"Cultural Revolution," China had to start all over again with its
economy. When China initiated its economic reforms in 1978, why did
the country first start the reforms in rural areas? What were the
considerations at that time?
A: China is a big agrarian country with a farming population
that constituted more than 80 percent of the nation's total. The
biggest challenge the country faced in the late 1970s was to
provide enough food for over 900 million people. The revival and
development of agriculture, especially grain production, was of
vital importance to social stability. Secondly, the common approach
to national economy is to develop agriculture first, and then the
light industry and the heavy industry. The fundamental role
agriculture plays in China's economic development decided that the
reforms had to start from rural areas. A healthy agriculture would
not only provide adequate food for the population but also stable
supply of raw materials for the light industry, thus paving the way
for rehabilitation and eventual development of the overall national
economy.?
Land is the basic production material in agricultural
production, as well as the most reliable life security for farmers.
Since all the land in China is owned by the State, the main content
of the rural reforms of the late 1970s was to give the management
right of land to individual farming households, letting farmers
themselves decide what and how much to grow on their contracted
land. The reform effectively put an end to the 20-plus-year system
of "people's communes", under which farm land was supposed to be
"collectively" managed, but in fact was always managed by commune
leadership who made final production decisions.
The reform greatly mobilized the enthusiasm of farmers, spurred
productivity, which, combined with good weather conditions, pushed
agricultural production to an unexpected historic high. The country
reaped consecutive bumper grain harvests in the 1980s and, as a
result, the living standards of farmers improved greatly.
Since 80 percent of China's population
lives in the countryside and agriculture plays a fundamental role
in its economic development, it is only natural that the country's
economic reforms began in rural areas. Farmers are doing harvesting
in their own fields.
