The Chinese Communist Party hopes to double the current per-capita disposable income of the country’s 730 million rural citizens to US$1200 by 2020 following a plenary session in October. Per-capita disposable income of rural Chinese in 2007 was RMB 4,140 (US$606). The government has pledged to improve economic growth in rural China, and better manage the disparity between urban and rural areas as well as improving grassroots democracy in the countryside.

In an unprecedented move, the government also announced radical changes to the 30-year-old land-use rights of its farmers – first initiated under reforms by Deng Xiaoping which allowed farmers to sell produce on the open market despite their land remaining collectively owned. Under current legislation, farmers in China own the product of their land but not the land itself and are excluded from trading their land-use rights. The system has been rife with corruption and has led to thousands of rural protests every year in China. Local governments stand accused of selling plots to developers while inadequately compensating farmers. The new system hopes to better protect farmers from such abuses. State news agency Xinhua said the government would “severely punish” any actions which “violated farmers’ interests.” It is hoped that the new laws will boost agricultural production as farmers are given greater flexibility to transfer or merge their land into larger collective plots as well as accelerating urbanization.

Peasants in Dongfeng, one of the largest county-level grain producers in China, are busy storing grains after a good harvest.
(AAP Image/Xinhua Photo/Chi Haifeng)