China Needs a Third 'Liberation of Farmers': Expert

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, August 12, 2002

China Needs a Third 'Liberation of Farmers': Expert

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China needs virtually an institutional shakeup by which farmers are to be "liberated" and for the third time become free from a life being arbitrarily and unjustifiably isolated and cut off in the rural areas from towns.

That is the view Hu Angang, professor and expert known for his studies conducted on domestic issues in Qinghua University has lately voiced with regard to the problem of rural China.

In an interview with newsmen, he said that by China's institutional shakeup should be meant primarily helping farmers get free, helping them with investment, resettlement, and with a smaller and prosperous farmers' population to be developed as their Chinese urban counterparts.

Hu said the crux for China's development lies in a solution to the problem of the country's farmers. Farmers in rural China take about a two thirds of the Chinese population and with this are large gaps found between town and country.

Over a long period of time there had been given rise to many and varied institutional differences as of a different social status governing system and a different institutional setup long practiced in education, seeking employment, rendering public service and financial and monetary management obstructing China's development.

Previously, Chinese farmers had twice been liberated throughout the history of the New China and had brought with them China's economic development and social progress.

Back in the early 1950s, Chinese farmers had got their first "liberation". Over 300 million landless farmers and those with little land had been given back 700 million mu more of their land. Over 70 billion catties of rent grain were thus exempted. Grain production was seen in 1952 with a 45 percent growth over 1949 recording an all-time high yield unknown in China's past before founding of the new People's Republic.

By the early 1980s, Chinese farmers had their second "liberation". Farm production had contract with remuneration linked to output on a household basis. Farmers became free from then a frustrating communal system as of the "people's commune". Benefiting farmers was a 55.4 percent growth of added value and a per-capita average of 1.7-fold increase of income gained by them from production in 1978-1985.

Professor Hu pointed out that there must come by now the time to effect a virtual "liberation" of Chinese farmers the third time. Chinese farmers have to be finally freed from their land, help them develop and turn themselves into a non-agricultural population, familiarize themselves with a new life in cities and become educated especially those of young farmers after leaving their land.

For a virtual "liberation of farmers" the third time China must see to it that all obsolete institutional practice as marking the difference of people's social status in town and country should be eliminated in the way competitions will have to be carried out on an equal footing. All opportunities and equal rights to settlement, work, education, vote etc. must be enjoyed by country folks as their urban counterparts.

To conclude, equalities must be insured nationwide and universal and be furthered and guaranteed by various constructive efforts on a multitude of economic lines and social services in contributing to a massive relocation of farmers and a fast growth of the Chinese economy, Hu said.

By People's Daily Online

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