Bringing the city back in: the Chinese debate on rural problems

Lei GuangSan Diego State University

(2003)

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Income Living expenditure Savings Per capita grain production

Rural per capita grain production

Rural/urban ratios in income, living expenditure & savings

Rise of the “three rural” ( 三农 ) discourse in China

农民真苦 , 农村真穷 , 农业真危险 .

-- 李昌平 (2000)

Peasants are really poor,

Rural life is really hard,

Agriculture is in real crisis.

--Li Changping (2000)

Rise of the san-nong discourse

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三农 三农问题

What is new about the new rural discourse?

• Shift from a traditional emphasis on food security to concerns with income distribution

• Shift from a compartmentalized to a comprehensive approach to the perceived rural crisis

• Bring the “city” back into the equation

Two perspectives on how to solve the rural crisis

• “Market integration” school: Justin Lin (林毅夫）

– Generalized long-term food grain shortage is unlikely.

– Rural modernization, premised on the free flow of urban commodities and rural labor, will create a virtuous cycle of rural-urban interaction.

Initial state investment in rural infrastructure (roads, electricity, etc)rural employment and income rise

rural demand for urban products urban production and employment go up

rural excess labor migrate to cities

Two perspectives on how to solve the rural crisis

• “Rural reconstruction” school: Wen Tiejun (温铁军 )

– Preserving family farm is key to solving rural crisis

– Inappropriate market; Inadequate or rapacious state

– Un-bridging the rural and urban

Rural organizational deficit

• Rural under-representation in China’s formal political organizations

– 1/4 electoral representation for the People’s Congress

– Communist Youth League: 30% of its members and 25% of local CYL organizations in agricultural sector

– CCP peasant membership: 60% in 1949, 47% in 1978, 33% in 2000.

– Widespread rural party paralysis (49%?)

Rural organizational deficit: civic associations

• Rural civic associations are fewer in number, have smaller membership size for each organization, are less likely to cater to local needs (Pei Minxin, 1998)

• Only 7.5% of China’s villages (55,000) had functioning professional associations in 2003; 2.1% of farm households participate in them.

• Lack of multi-purpose horizontal organizations such as “peasant association”

Conclusions

• Redressing the rural-urban disparity requires more than the reduction of rural taxes, the re-directing of resource flows or the creation of a unified rural-urban labor market. It requires going beyond family farms and village communities to create broader associational ties among the rural population.

• Above all, a fundamental change in the rural-urban relations hinges on strengthening the capacity of the existing rural organizations while forging new solidary associations that empower rural citizen vis-à-vis urban interests.