Weight of China: 32 Authorities Interpret the "Three Rural Issues"

Author: Tian Yongsheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-03-01
Features: The number of farmers engaged in grain production in China is too large. From a positive perspective, importing grain is equivalent to importing land and water resources. However, importing grain also replaces the livelihood of Chinese farmers who grow grain—what about them? I believe the complexity of the food issue lies not only in its being an economic issue but also in it being a major social and political issue. Chen Xiwen, Deputy Director of the Central Financial and Economic Leading Group Office, must address systemic issues to achieve coordinated development of urban and rural economies and society. The household registration system is one of the fundamental systemic issues. The household registration system must be reformed—delaying reform is worse than implementing it early! Lu Xueyi, President of the Chinese Sociological Association: There are still 74,800 village-level administrative units in the country that lack telephone access, with approximately 70% located in western regions. These areas are "blank spots" in China's telecommunications service, and their residents are the "marginalized groups" in the information age. Therefore, providing universal telecommunications services to these areas and narrowing the urban-rural information gap is the primary task and responsibility of the government in developing the telecommunications industry. It is a concrete embodiment of the "people-centered" and "comprehensive, coordinated, and sustainable" development concept. Hu Angang, Director of the Institute of Macroeconomic Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences - Tsinghua University: Rural political conditions not only determine the national political stability and historical process of modernization but also decide and constrain the ultimate resolution of the "three rural issues." Yu Jianrong, Director of the Social Problem Research Center, Institute of Rural Development, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences: The articles in this book are filled with deep emotion, written from the forefront of the times, and place China's issues in the context of the world. Their appeal lies in this very aspect. In this book, experts have thoroughly analyzed the key aspects of solving the "three rural issues." Since the reform and opening-up, the Party Central Committee and the State Council have taken many measures for the "three rural issues," from implementing the production responsibility system, poverty alleviation and development, to recent initiatives like western development and reducing agricultural taxes—almost exhausting all conceivable and feasible methods. In the future, building on the solid foundation already achieved, taking further steps will require even greater efforts, new ideas, and new measures. It will require looking beyond the confines of the "agriculture" aspect to study agricultural issues, as pointed out by several experts in this book. Solving the "three rural issues" cannot be separated from the guarantee of the legal system and the practical measures of the government, nor from academic research, nor from the support of the entire nation—in order to serve the 800 million farmers and revitalize the motherland, indeed the entire nation should exert its full strength, and everyone should care.