Five orientations of rural reform and development
Special topic: China farmers’ reform set sail again.
From the historic decision of reform and opening up made by the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China to the adoption of "the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China’s Decision on Several Major Issues in Promoting Rural Reform and Development" by the Third Plenary Session of the Seventeenth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, China’s rural reform and development has gone through a process of continuous deepening and continuous advancement for 30 years. Reviewing the course of rural reform and development, especially grasping the basic value orientation and practical trend of rural reform and development, will not only help us truly understand the pulse of the vast rural areas, but also help us deeply understand the strategic deployment of the Third Plenary Session of the Seventeenth Central Committee to further promote rural reform and development.
Marketization stimulates the vitality of rural economy with economic system reform
Before the reform and opening-up, the rural areas implemented a planned economic system with the integration of politics and society. The rural economy lacked vitality, production efficiency was low, and farmers’ lives were very difficult. The rural reform started from breaking the planned economic system. By abolishing the people’s commune, establishing a two-tier management system based on household contract management, stabilizing and improving the land contract relationship, and fully liberalizing the agricultural product market, a market-oriented reform has been embarked on.
First, establish and improve the two-tier management system. First of all, the implementation of "household production quotas", the establishment of family management forms, the formation of self-operated farmers, changing the previous single production model into a two-tier management system combining unification and separation, and quickly liberating rural productivity. Since then, with the sudden emergence of township enterprises and the extensive establishment of various farmers’ professional cooperative organizations, the rural collective economy in various forms has become increasingly energetic in the fight of market economy. To this end, the Third Plenary Session of the Seventeenth Central Committee pointed out that the two-tier management system based on household contract management and combining unification and separation is a basic rural management system that adapts to the socialist market economic system and conforms to the characteristics of agricultural production. It is the cornerstone of the party’s rural policy and must be unswervingly adhered to. At the same time, the plenary session further clarified the development direction of the rural two-tier management system, that is, family management should change to the direction of adopting advanced technology and production means, and strive to improve the level of intensification; Unified management should change to the direction of developing farmers’ union and cooperation and forming a diversified, multi-level and multi-form management service system, and strive to improve the degree of organization.
The second is to establish and guarantee farmers’ right to contract and manage basic means of production such as land. The term of farmers’ land contracting right was 15 years at first, and then extended for 30 years. The Third Plenary Session of the 17th Central Committee clearly stated that "the existing land in contract relationship should be stable and unchanged for a long time". At the same time, the plenary session proposed to improve the power of land contractual management rights and protect farmers’ rights of possession, use and income of contracted land according to law; In accordance with the principle of voluntary compensation according to law, farmers are allowed to transfer the contracted management right of land in the form of subcontracting, leasing, exchange, transfer and joint-stock cooperation, and develop various forms of moderate scale operation. This has further laid a foundation for improving the two-tier management system in rural areas. In addition, the reform of collective forest right system will be carried out, and the management right of collective forest land will be contracted to farmers for 70 years; The water surface, grassland, orchards and beaches in rural areas have also been contracted by farmers for a long time, which has created preconditions for improving the micro-subject of rural economy.
The third is to reform and improve the circulation system of agricultural products. First, the system of unified distribution and purchase of agricultural products was abolished, and the main agricultural products were ordered by contract, while most other agricultural products were freely circulated by the market. Since then, the main agricultural products such as grain have been purchased at protective prices, the selling price has been raised, and the management of purchasing and selling channels has been strengthened. After the 14th National Congress proposed the establishment of a socialist market economic system, the pace of the construction of agricultural products market system was accelerated. After joining the WTO, China’s agricultural products compete directly with overseas agricultural products in accordance with internationally accepted rules and standards. After the implementation of direct grain subsidy in 2004, the grain market was fully liberalized, and farmers had more adequate agricultural product marketing rights and agricultural management rights. It is worth noting that with the changes in the international relationship between grain supply and demand and the prominent contradiction between grain supply and demand, and the rising prices of domestic agricultural means of production have affected farmers’ enthusiasm for growing grain, it has become an extremely important practical task to ensure China’s food security and the balance between supply and demand of major agricultural products. To this end, the Third Plenary Session of the Seventeenth Central Committee proposed to improve the dynamic adjustment mechanism of comprehensive agricultural subsidies linked to the price increase of agricultural means of production; Improve the agricultural product price protection system, improve the agricultural product market regulation system, and maintain a reasonable level of agricultural product prices; Improve the price formation mechanism of major agricultural products such as grain, straighten out the price comparison relationship, and give full play to the role of market prices in promoting production and income. This shows that we should continue to play the role of the law of value and promote farmers to increase production and income by improving the market economic system.
Modernization bases the national food security on the solid foundation of agricultural modernization.
The reform of rural production relations has liberated the human factor in productive forces and promoted the great improvement of agricultural production and supply capacity. However, in order to continue to strengthen and stabilize the supply capacity of agricultural production, we must also strengthen the construction of the material foundation of agricultural productivity. Therefore, in the process of rural reform and development, the central government has always paid attention to agricultural modernization and carried out a series of material inputs, institutional improvements, institutional arrangements and policy designs. The 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China clearly proposed to take the road of agricultural modernization with China characteristics. The Third Plenary Session of the 17th CPC Central Committee took the road of agricultural modernization with China characteristics as the basic direction to promote rural reform and development under the new situation.
Constantly promote the modernization of agricultural production conditions. Since the reform and opening up, the central government’s decisions, opinions and outlines related to agriculture have emphasized the strengthening of agricultural infrastructure construction such as farmland water conservancy. Since the promotion of new rural construction, the rural capital construction has been expanded, and the infrastructure of rural industries, rural villages, rural infrastructure and ecological environment management have been integrated, and the construction has been strengthened as a whole. Agricultural infrastructure is an important material condition for modern agriculture, and the Third Plenary Session of the Seventeenth Central Committee continued to emphasize the strengthening of agricultural infrastructure construction.
Constantly improve the level of developing agriculture through science and education. Since the reform and opening up, we have continuously strengthened the work of rejuvenating agriculture through science and education by increasing investment in agricultural science and technology, concentrating on tackling major agricultural science and technology problems, encouraging and supporting agricultural science and technology innovation and transformation of achievements, popularizing scientific cultivation and breeding, and strengthening professional and technical training for farmers. The basic support of modern agriculture lies in science and technology, and the fundamental way out for agricultural development lies in scientific and technological progress. To this end, the Third Plenary Session of the Seventeenth Central Committee emphasized the acceleration of agricultural science and technology innovation, and constantly promoted the integration of agricultural technology, the mechanization of labor process, and the informationization of production and operation.
Continuously optimize the structure and layout of agriculture and rural industries. As early as the mid-1990s, the central government proposed to develop "two high and one excellent" agriculture and sustainable development agriculture, and strive to build modern agriculture and rural industrial structure; And constantly optimize the regional layout of modern agriculture, emphasizing the strengthening of the construction of major grain and cotton producing areas, and developing and building industrial belts of superior agricultural products and characteristic agricultural products producing areas. The Third Plenary Session of the Seventeenth Central Committee continued to emphasize the promotion of strategic adjustment of agricultural structure, taking market demand as the guide, scientific and technological innovation as the means and quality and efficiency as the goal, and building a modern agricultural industrial system; Do a good job in industrial layout planning, scientifically determine the key points of regional agricultural development, form an industrial belt with outstanding advantages and distinctive characteristics, and guide the construction of processing, circulation, storage and transportation facilities to gather in advantageous production areas.
Constantly promote the modernization of agricultural products. The foothold of agricultural modernization lies in the modernization of agricultural products, that is, agricultural products should have modern standards, quality and form, and can meet the needs of modern consumption. Since joining the WTO, China has actively promoted the construction of agricultural production and product standardization system, emphasized the development of pollution-free, green and organic food, and put quality and safety in the first place in the construction of agricultural products. The Third Plenary Session of the Seventeenth Central Committee continued to emphasize the strengthening of agricultural standardization and the quality and safety of agricultural products to prevent unqualified products from entering the market.
We will continue to promote the construction of agricultural and rural service systems. Modern agriculture is not a small-scale peasant economy, but a socialized large-scale production. It is an inevitable requirement for the development of modern agriculture to build a comprehensive, convenient and efficient socialized service system covering the whole process. Over the years, China has actively built a socialized service system for agriculture and rural economy based on public service institutions, cooperative economic organizations, leading enterprises as the backbone, supplemented by other social forces, combining public welfare services with operational services, and coordinating special services with comprehensive services, and achieved remarkable results. The establishment of a modern rural financial system proposed by the Third Plenary Session of the Seventeenth Central Committee will strongly promote the process of agricultural and rural economic modernization.
Democratization respects farmers’ dominant position and protects farmers’ rights and interests.
Thirty years ago, 18 villagers in Xiaogang Village, Fengyang, Anhui Province took the lead in implementing the "big contract" and took the first step in China’s rural reform. In the past 30 years, respecting farmers’ dominant position, giving full play to farmers’ initiative spirit and safeguarding farmers’ rights and interests have formed a main line of rural reform and development.
Economic democracy is the foundation of political democracy. The rural reform has established a two-tier management system based on household contract management and the combination of unified management and separate management, and determined farmers’ long-term contract rights for land and independent marketing rights for agricultural products such as grain. In fact, it has established farmers’ dominant position in the market economy and really started farmers’ independent consciousness and initiative. This is also the fundamental embodiment of rural economic democracy. Over the years, by constantly rationalizing the price system of agricultural products, implementing tax reform and abolishing agricultural tax, establishing various subsidy systems and directly subsidizing farmers, the material interests of farmers have been further safeguarded, their economic rights and interests have been guaranteed, and their enthusiasm for production and operation has been further mobilized.
After the abolition of people’s communes, rural grassroots governments were established. Since then, in order to ensure the villagers’ autonomy, let the villagers handle their own affairs according to law, and develop rural grassroots democracy, China has promulgated and implemented the Organic Law of Villagers’ Committees. According to this law, the villagers’ committee is a grass-roots mass self-governing organization for villagers’ self-management, self-education and self-service, which implements democratic election, democratic decision-making, democratic management and democratic supervision. The Party’s grass-roots organizations in rural areas play a leading role, and support and guarantee villagers to carry out autonomous activities and directly exercise democratic rights. At present, the grass-roots mass autonomy system, including villagers’ autonomy, has become one of the basic democratic political systems in China. The system of villagers’ self-government fully demonstrates farmers’ political dominant position in rural areas and effectively protects farmers’ political rights and interests. The Third Plenary Session of the Seventeenth Central Committee proposed to expand the scope of villagers’ self-government, expand the proportion of farmers in county and township people’s congresses, and improve the township governance mechanism that is compatible with the continuous improvement of farmers’ enthusiasm for political participation, which injected new vitality into rural democratic political construction.
In recent years, the central government has actively promoted the equalization of basic public services, and public finances have continuously increased investment in various social undertakings in rural areas, which has more and more effectively guaranteed the cultural rights and social rights of farmers. The Third Plenary Session of the Seventeenth Central Committee proposed to expand the coverage of public finance in rural areas and develop rural public utilities, so that the broad masses of farmers can learn to be educated, earn income from their work, get medical care for their illness, provide for their old age and live and live, which shows a bright future for the all-round progress of rural society.
Integration breaks the dual structure of urban and rural areas and promotes the integration of urban and rural economic and social development.
Associated with the planned economic system is the dual social structure and governance mode of urban-rural division. In the early stage of industrialization and urbanization, agriculture and rural areas paid a huge price for the development of industry and cities, and also widened the gap between urban and rural areas. Under the condition of market economy, factors of production flow to departments and regions with high productivity and high returns, which further widens the gap between urban and rural areas and between developed and underdeveloped areas. Entering the new stage of the new century, China has generally entered the development stage of promoting agriculture by industry and bringing rural areas by cities. To solve the problem of agriculture, rural areas and farmers, we must jump out of the mindset of focusing on agriculture, rural areas and farmers. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China put forward Scientific Outlook on Development, taking the overall planning of urban and rural development as the top priority. The 17th National Congress clearly put forward the important idea of forming a new pattern of urban and rural economic and social development integration, and the Third Plenary Session of the 17th Central Committee took accelerating the formation of a new pattern of urban and rural economic and social development integration as the fundamental requirement for promoting rural reform and development under the new situation. It can be said that breaking the dual structure of urban and rural areas and promoting the economic and social integration of urban and rural areas constitute a new starting point for the construction of rural policy system in the new period and a new orientation for rural reform and development.
To promote the integration of urban and rural economy and society, the general reform orientation is to promote the balanced allocation of public resources and the free flow of production factors between urban and rural areas, and to promote the integration of urban and rural economic and social development. This involves a series of institutional measures, mainly including: coordinating land use and urban and rural planning, rationally arranging the spatial layout of urban construction, farmland protection, industrial agglomeration, village distribution and ecological conservation in cities and counties; Coordinate urban and rural industrial development, optimize rural industrial structure, develop rural service industry and township enterprises, and guide urban capital, technology, talents, management and other production factors to flow to rural areas; Coordinate urban and rural infrastructure construction and public services, comprehensively improve the level of financial security for rural public utilities, and gradually establish a unified urban and rural public service system; Coordinate urban and rural employment, accelerate the establishment of a unified human resources market in urban and rural areas, and strengthen the protection of migrant workers’ rights and interests; Coordinate urban and rural social management, promote the reform of household registration system, relax the conditions for small and medium-sized cities to settle down, and promote the innovation of floating population service and management system; Expand the autonomy of county development, enhance the vitality and strength of county economy, and promote the financial system reform of the county (city) directly under the provincial government; Adhere to the road of urbanization with China characteristics, promote the coordinated development of large, medium and small cities and small towns, and form a mechanism for urbanization and new rural construction to promote each other.
Since the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the central government has proposed and emphasized vigorously developing the county economy, which is also an important step in the construction of urban-rural integration. Counties are also cities and townships, which is actually the concept of a big rural area. Operating according to the county scope is conducive to continuing to promote the integration of in township and town and villages, establishing a big village system and other related reforms, providing space for the innovation of modern agriculture and rural management system, and creating necessary conditions for coordinating urban and rural economic and social development and promoting urban-rural integration.
Scientifically directing the construction of new socialist countryside with Scientific Outlook on Development.
In the past 30 years, rural reform has been full of practical innovation, theoretical innovation, institutional innovation, organizational innovation and institutional innovation. In the final analysis, it is to push the vast rural areas onto the road of scientific development and build a new socialist countryside with Scientific Outlook on Development as the leader. The Third Plenary Session of the Seventeenth Central Committee regards building a new socialist countryside as a strategic task to promote rural reform and development under the new situation.
Scientific Outlook on Development, the first priority is development. To build a new countryside, we must highlight the theme of development, consolidate and strengthen the position of agriculture as the foundation, always take solving the problem of feeding more than one billion people as the top priority of governing the country and safeguarding the country, and constantly liberate and develop rural social productive forces. We will increase support and protection for agriculture, implement the strategy of rejuvenating agriculture through science and education, speed up the construction of modern agriculture, realize the all-round and stable development of agriculture, and lay a solid foundation for promoting economic development, promoting social harmony and safeguarding national security. Always regard reform and innovation as the fundamental driving force for rural development, persistently promote rural reform and system innovation, improve the rural economic system that meets the requirements of the socialist market economy, and make rural economic and social development full of vitality.
People-oriented is the core of Scientific Outlook on Development, which emphasizes the realization, maintenance and development of the fundamental interests of the people, the dominant position and role of the people, and the promotion of people’s all-round development. Building a new countryside depends on farmers and needs to cultivate new farmers. We should always take the realization, maintenance and development of the fundamental interests of farmers as the starting point and the end result of all rural work, focus on solving the most direct and realistic interests of farmers, safeguard their political, economic, cultural and social rights and interests, improve their comprehensive quality, promote their all-round development, give full play to their main role and initiative, and rely on hundreds of millions of farmers to build a new socialist countryside.
All-round, coordinated and sustainable development is the basic requirement of Scientific Outlook on Development. Building a new countryside, including production development, affluent life, civilized rural customs, clean village appearance, democratic management and other aspects, requires coordinated promotion of rural economic construction, political construction, cultural construction, social construction and party building, and through active development of conservation-oriented agriculture, circular agriculture and ecological agriculture, the rural ecological environment is protected and the sustainable development of agriculture is promoted. According to the deployment of the Third Plenary Session of the Seventeenth Central Committee, we should comprehensively and systematically promote the construction of new countryside, strive to make the rural economic system more sound, make remarkable progress in the construction of modern agriculture, greatly improve the consumption level of farmers, further strengthen the construction of rural grassroots organizations, and basically form a resource-saving and environment-friendly agricultural production system.
Scientific Outlook on Development takes overall consideration as the fundamental method. To build a new countryside, we must coordinate urban and rural economic and social development and focus on building a new type of relationship between workers, peasants and urban and rural areas. It is necessary to coordinate industrialization, urbanization and agricultural modernization, speed up the establishment and improvement of a long-term mechanism to promote agriculture through industry and bring rural areas through cities, consolidate and improve the policy of strengthening agriculture and benefiting farmers, focus on the development of infrastructure and social undertakings in rural areas, promote the equalization of basic public services in urban and rural areas, and enable farmers to participate in the modernization process and share the fruits of reform and development on an equal footing.
Editor: Liu Li