Chinese Rural Economy is supervised by Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and sponsored by Rural Development Institute, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. It aims to focus and study the major problems that need to be solved in China’s rural reform and development, as well as the important rural policies of the CPC and the government. Its scope covers rural situation and policy analysis, the system of rural property rights, rural land problems, and transfer of human capital and labor in rural areas. It has become an important window for the world to know Chinese rural economics and Chinese rural reform and development theories. The journal is included in CSSCI.
Since the reform and opening-up, China’s animal husbandry has developed rapidly and experienced the stages of fast recovery, output expansion, transformation and development, as well as ecological and healthy breeding. However, it has also encountered many challenges. This paper summarizes the great achievements of China’s animal husbandry in production capacity, development quality, production mode and main experiences. From the international and domestic perspectives, this study deeply analyzes four major challenges faced by China’s animal husbandry. First, trade protectionism is on the rise, and the “Thucydides Trap” deserves vigilance. Second, the transformation of animal husbandry from quantity-oriented development to quality-oriented development has been slow, and food quality and safety issues often appear. Third, the abatement of livestock and poultry pollution is urgent, and there is a need to shift the growth model and replace old growth drivers with new ones at a faster pace. Fourth, the strength of intelligent support is weak, and the upgrading of industry chain faces many constraints. To overcome the actual predicaments of China’s animal husbandry, it is necessary to build a better environment for development and enhance international competitiveness of livestock products. What is more, it is important to combine long-term strategy with short-term tactics by stably conquering the trouble in future and accurately solving the trouble at the moment. There is also a need to take into account the overall situation of ecological civilization and promote transformation of animal husbandry. It is equally important to actively use various technical means to promote the transformation and upgrading of the entire industrial chain.
By a theoretical framework of embeddedness, this paper focused on the operation of local market for cash crops and explored how rural social relations were involved in local trade to interpret the formation of market order. By fieldwork in two cash crop-producing counties, we found that various obstructions prevented middlemen from trading directly with small producers. The technical barriers in marketing, a wide gap of trading volume between small producers and middlemen, and information asymmetry caused intentionally by middlemen could all result in failures of trade between middlemen and direct producers. As a result, the rural social resources of agricultural commodity brokers as middlemen agents could well help trade. The rural social networks of these brokers enabled them to find proper suppliers soon, whereas trust of fellow villagers allowed them to guarantee whenever necessary. Moreover, their
renqing (favor) and
mianzi (face) in the rural community could not only help to resolve conflicts between middlemen and small producers but also allow the former as outsiders of the village to avoid prejudice. As a matter of fact, the brokers’ rural social resources, functioning as lubricant, help them to trade with small producers at a low cost, solve the conflicts between the two parties within the social relations between brokers and their fellow villagers, and guarantee a good order of local market.
Farmland protection is of the top priority as far as national stability and people’s wellbeing are concerned. Farmland protection policies play important roles in ensuring farmland protection. In this study, statistical analysis and comparative analysis are carried out to analyze changes in China’s farmland resources and how China’s farmland protection policies have evolved during China’s 40 years of reform and opening-up. The direction and path for optimizing farmland protection policies are investigated. The following is found through this study. During its 40-year reform and opening-up, China has experienced alternate increase and decrease of farmland quantity at different stages while farmland quality has deteriorated significantly. The process through which China’s farmland protection policies evolve can be divided into five stages, namely, proposal of conceptual policies, systematic policy exploration, primary and systematic policy development, systematic policy improvement, and three-in-one policy enhancement, based on the following milestones: the promulgation and revisions of
Land Management Law of the People’s Republic of China, and the formulation of
Notice on Comprehensively Intensifying the Development and Management of Farmland Quality to Improve Farmland Protection (关于提升耕地保护水平全面加强耕地质量建设与管理的通知). During the evolution of farmland protection policies, the following changes have been gradually completed. Previously, only the government was aware of farmland protection. Now farmland protection has become the will of the state. The focus has changed from simply treating the symptoms of farmland issues to systematically removing the root causes. The governance of farmland protection used to be dominated by the government. Today, multiple entities jointly participate in the governance of farmland protection. As far as farmland protection policies are concerned, improvements can still be made in the policy system, innovation, and execution. Therefore, the authors propose the following. In terms of the dominant party in farmland protection, the government should be replaced by farmers. A model in which the government guides, farmers dominate, and firms participate in farmland protection, should be established. Organic unification of policies for protecting and utilizing farmland should be promoted. A platform for managing big data of farmland resources which have consistent monitored parameters should be developed. Special fund should be established exclusively for farmland protection.
Implementing the strategy of rural revitalization is an important decision-making plan made by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China based on a deep judgment of the major problems including insufficient development in rural areas and unbalanced development between urban and rural areas. It also is a general grasp of the work related to agriculture, rural areas and farmers in the new era. Based on academic exchanges at the annual symposium of Chinese Society of Foreign Agricultural Economy in 2018, this article systematically identified the basic connotation and policy direction of rural revitalization strategy, and summarized the international experience and China’s practices of rural revitalization. Experts have exchanged and confronted ideas on the following topics. First of all, how do we prevent the countryside decline and scientifically grasp the keynotes of implementing rural revitalization strategy? Secondly, how do we improve food safety and international competitiveness of agricultural products through green production and ecological governance? Thirdly, how do we optimize agricultural industrial organization to improve agricultural production efficiency? Fourthly, how do we achieve an inclusive development of primary, secondary and tertiary industries to improve farmers’ income? Furthermore, scholars have also discussed new ideas and directions for the development of agriculture and rural areas and the implementation of rural revitalization strategy in China’s new era.
The sustainable and healthy operation and development of anti-poverty work depend on effective institutional arrangements in economy and society. This article conducts reviews on the evolution of China’s anti-poverty policies since 1979 based on an analysis of 289 anti-poverty policies issued by the central government and relevant ministries over the past 40 years. This analysis is quantitative, based on a statistical analysis of the number and structural distribution of policies and policy instruments, types and institutions, as well as periodic goals and content. Through these analyses, the study reveals the relationship between anti-poverty development and institutional arrangements. The following conclusions can be drawn. First of all, the number and structure of anti-poverty policies in different stages are determined by the poverty characteristics in different periods. Secondly, the anti-poverty policy goals and measures in all stages are always consistent with the national strategic objectives. Thirdly, the evolution of anti-poverty policies deeply embodies the formation process of anti-poverty ideological system with Chinese characteristics. Fourthly, participation and implementation departments in the development of policies are increasing so that the policy synergies can be enhanced. Fifthly, the evolution of anti-poverty policies always reflects the basic motive force of economic and social development. To summarize, over the past 40 years, changes in institutional arrangements have provided a strong impetus to Chinese anti-poverty development. In the future, the formulation of anti-poverty development policies needs to keep pace with the times and continue to innovate. At the national strategic level, the Chinese government should gradually improve the institution and mechanism of anti-poverty policies based on the poverty characteristics at this stage. After 2020, poverty reduction must be continued so that the ultimate goal of common prosperity could be achieved.
This article uses Difference-in-Differences method to analyze the effect of farmland management scale and service scale management of land consolidation and titling by employing the quasi-natural experimental data of land consolidation and titling in Yangshan County, Guangdong Province. The study shows that land consolidation and titling policies have significantly increased the scale of agricultural land and the expansion of farmers’ agricultural land management. At the same time, the impact of the implementation of land consolidation and titling policies on the accessibility and utilization rate of farmers’ agricultural outsourcing service has shifted over time from a potential degree to a significantly positive effect.
