China's Rural Reform
China's Rural Reform was one of the multiple reform and opening up policies implemented in 1978. The reforms were initiated by Deng Xiaoping, the paramount leader of the Chinese Communist Party.
The agricultural reform was the first to be introduced, and resulted in China meeting 4 objectives:
- Increase in agricultural production
- Absorption of farm labor by industries
- Reduction of poverty
- Increase in quality and quantity of food consumption
Background
With the crisis of food shortages that resulted from the two Chinese revolutions and the rapidly growing population, a reform was needed that could ensure stable production of food. However, the pace of reforms was very slow. With the aim of surpassing the United Kingdom and the United States, the Great Leap Forward led by Mao Zedong from 1958 to 1962 focused on industrial development. Producing "backyard steel" to make military equipment became the highest priority and other economic sectors related to the improvement of livelihood of the people such as agriculture and light industry were undervalued. This led to the Great Chinese Famine in 1959 - one of the deadliest famines in history, with estimates of around 36-45 million dead as a result.To regain power, momentum and consolidate his communist ideology within the party, Mao Zedong initiated the ten-year Cultural Revolution in 1966. Anything associated with capitalism or traditional values were removed. Millions of people fled due to the instability of the country. The 10-year movement crippled the country both politically and economically. The economy was stagnant and countless people died. Moreover, due to Zedong's belief that prosperity of the country comes with a greater population, he encouraged couples to have more children. According to statistics from World Bank, the fertility rate of China peaked in 1966, with each woman giving birth to an average of 6.37 children. This increased birth rate resulted in a 2.78% population growth in 1966, the highest annual growth in China's history. The population growth combined with the stagnant economy resulted in food shortages, which became the rationale for the rural reform.
Before the reform
The Beidaihe conference in 1958 affirmed the centralization of agricultural production. The people's right to own private properties were removed and people's commune became the production unit in the rural area. Prior to the reform, households were divided into collective production units, in which families worked together as a team. As it was difficult to monitor the performance of each person, yields were equally divided among households, disregarding the different degrees of efforts individuals put in. This resulted in low incentives for the farmers to work hard, which led to slacking and inefficiency in production.Cause of the reform
In the beginning, the agricultural reform was not intended or initiated by the Chinese government, rather, it was initiated by 18 households in Xiaogang Village, Fengyang Xian, Anhui Province. In 1978, Fengyang Xian experienced a serious drought. To overcome the problem, they came up with an arrangement where each household was responsible for their own production. Farming tools and land were equally distributed among the households in return for delivery of fixed output quotas. Each member had the free will to decide which types of crops to grow and they were entitled to sell excess yields in the free market. They were also expected to deal with whatever losses they suffered on their own. This was the prototype of the household responsibility system. This arrangement was completely against the values of the Communist Party, and the villagers could have been prosecuted for it. Because of this, the arrangement was kept a secret without the awareness of higher officials. The arrangement turned out to be successful and soon spread to other parts of Anhui Province and Sichuan Province.In 1980, Deng Xiaoping publicly announced his endorsement of such policy and this officially began the enforcement of the rural reform.