Guan Ruijie: Seventy-Five Years of Historical Transformation and Rational Reflection on New China’s Rural Management System [1]
The year 2024 is destined to be an epoch-making year for China's agriculture, rural areas, and farmers—one that will be recorded as a significant stroke in the long river of history.
On June 28, the Tenth Meeting of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China voted to pass the Rural Collective Economic Organizations Law of the People's Republic of China, effective May 1, 2025. Having weathered over 70 years of development since the agricultural cooperative movement [1] of the early 1950s, it is no exaggeration to say that the rural collective economic organizations of New China constitute a socialist system of public ownership that involves the most people, radiates across the widest geography, exerts the greatest influence, and has the longest history of legislative practice in the world. They are the foundation upon which hundreds of millions of farmers base their livelihoods, the cornerstone for safeguarding their rights and interests, the key to the good governance of the countryside, and the source of national prosperity and social stability. Consequently, their immense role and profound significance are self-evident.
On July 18, the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) adopted the Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Comprehensively Deepening Reform and Advancing Chinese-path Modernization. This demonstrates the firm determination and strong sense of mission of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core to carry reform through to the end. It is a re-declaration of what flag will be flown and what path will be taken on the new journey in the New Era. It fully reflects the Party Central Committee’s historical initiative in improving and developing the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and advancing the modernization of China’s system and capacity for governance, which will surely provide strong momentum and institutional guarantees for Chinese-path modernization.
Integrating the study and implementation of the aforementioned Decision and the Rural Collective Economic Organizations Law, this article is divided into three parts to summarize the 75-year historical evolution and rational reflections on New China's rural management system: "Arduous Journey, Brilliant Achievements"; "Upholding Fundamentals and Breaking New Ground for Comprehensive Rural Revitalization"; and "Remaining True to the Original Aspiration and Returning to the Source."
The economic base determines the superstructure. Land is the foundation of human survival and, moreover, the foundation of the farmers' livelihood. Looking back at the practice of Chinese revolution, construction, reform, innovation, and development, the mobilization, guidance, arming, and liberation of the masses have all unfolded around the central thread of the transformation of the land system.
The 75-year history of New China can be roughly divided into three stages: the thirty years from 1949 to 1978, starting from scratch, exploring through hardships, and focusing on building a highly unified planned economic management system; the thirty-four years from 1979 to 2012, characterized by reform and opening up, courageous practice, and a gradual transition toward a socialist market economy; and the eleven years from 2013 to 2024, where the rural management system advanced with the times, upheld fundamentals, and broke new ground. As the national economic system changed, the rural management system underwent major transformations, exhibiting distinct characteristics of the era. Reviewing this developmental journey, summarizing experiences and lessons, and looking forward to the broad prospects are of great significance for enhancing our sense of responsibility and mission, and for practicing Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and the spirit of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee.
I. Arduous Journey, Brilliant Achievements
Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has promoted innovation in theory, practice, and institutions regarding "agriculture, rural areas, and farmers" [2]. It has persisted in treating the resolution of these issues as the "top priority" (重中之重) of the entire Party’s work, effectively implementing the preferential development of agriculture and rural areas. Rural reform has achieved new breakthroughs: reforms of the rural land system and the rural collective property rights system have progressed steadily; substantial results have been achieved in the reform of the system for purchasing and stockpiling important agricultural products; rural innovation, entrepreneurship, and investment have become common practice; new growth drivers for rural development have accelerated; new steps have been taken in the integration of urban and rural development; the task of poverty alleviation was victoriously completed; and the goal of achieving a moderately prosperous society (小康) has been fully realized.
The reform of the rural land contract and management system, based on the implementation of the "separation of three rights" [3], persists in collective ownership, stabilizing contract rights, and liberalizing management rights. As of 2020, China has completed the registration and certification of 1.5 billion mu [4] of contracted land, issuing land contract and management certificates to 200 million rural households. We have explored the implementation of extending the second round of land contracts for another thirty years upon their expiration, ensuring that the original contracted land of the vast majority of households remains stable. We continue to advocate the principle of "no land increase for increased population, no land decrease for decreased population" [5] and have established a sound mechanism for the voluntary and compensated transfer of land contract rights in accordance with the law. Significant progress has been made in the "three pilots" concerning rural land requisition, the entry of collective經營性 (commercial/management) construction land into the market, and the reform of the zhaijidi (homestead) system. The reform of the rural land requisition system has achieved positive results in protecting the rights and interests of farmers whose land has been requisitioned; the system of rules for the market entry of rural collective commercial construction land has basically taken shape; and various beneficial explorations have been conducted regarding the rural homestead system.
In the New Era, building a new type of agricultural management system emphasizes both the cultivation of market entities and the innovation of services. On one hand, a focus is placed on developing and strengthening new types of agricultural management entities—such as farmers' cooperatives, leading enterprises, and family farms—making them important forces supporting modern agricultural development. On the other hand, based on the national reality of scattered, small-scale, and part-time farming households, emphasis is placed on leveraging the leading role of various new management entities to promote their organic connection with modern agricultural development.
The focus of improving the agricultural support and protection system in the New Era lies in fully tapping the potential of financial support for agriculture and rural areas, while maintaining fiscal priority. This involves implementing the strategy of "storing grain in the land and in technology" [6] to accelerate the building of a strong agricultural country. In 2016, the "three subsidies" reform was rolled out nationwide, merging subsidies for superior crop varieties, direct subsidies for grain growers, and comprehensive subsidies for agricultural supplies into a single "agricultural support and protection subsidy." The policy goal was adjusted to support the protection of cropland fertility and the moderate-scale management of grain. By the end of 2023, the country had cumulatively built over 1 billion mu of high-standard farmland. Total national grain output has remained stable above 1.3 trillion jin [7] for nine consecutive years. A transformation has been achieved from traditional agriculture dominated by cropping to modern agriculture with the comprehensive development of farming, forestry, animal husbandry, and fisheries. The shares of the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) are 7.1%, 38.3%, and 54.6%, respectively.
Agricultural insurance has continued to expand in coverage, variety, and standards, playing a positive role in ensuring food security and serving comprehensive rural revitalization. In 2020, China became the world's largest agricultural insurance market by premium volume. The risk protection provided by agricultural insurance to farmers grew from 0.9 trillion yuan in 2012 to 4.7 trillion yuan in 2021, with an average annual growth rate of 20.2% over the decade. In 2022, the central treasury allocated 30.9 billion yuan in premium subsidies, including 5.9 billion yuan for characteristic agricultural products. The area of major crops insured in China reached 2.1 billion mu, accounting for approximately 84% of the national sown area. Over 210 varieties of agricultural products are insured, basically covering China's major grain crops and key bulk agricultural products such as sugar, oilseeds, and live hogs, providing a crucial guarantee for serving the national strategies of food security and rural revitalization.
In 2023, the per capita disposable income of rural residents was 21,691 yuan, and the average monthly income of migrant workers was 4,780 yuan. The income growth of farmers in poverty-stricken areas continued to outpace the national average, and the endogenous developmental momentum within contiguous destitute areas significantly strengthened. The total number of migrant workers nationwide reached 297.53 million, an increase of 34.92 million over 2012. China's permanent urban population reached 930 million, with a permanent resident urbanization rate of 66.2%. 150 million people who moved from the agricultural sector have settled in towns and cities, bringing the registered (户籍, huji) urbanization rate to 48.3%. Comprehensive rural revitalization is progressing steadily, the urban-rural income gap continues to narrow, rural transport and communication facilities are constantly improving, and the level of basic public services has risen.
Since the comprehensive launch of rural reform in the late 1970s, Chinese agriculture has risen rapidly and achieved sustained, long-term development. Having experienced the historic transition from having enough to eat and wear to eating well and dressing elegantly, the goal of a moderately prosperous society has been fully achieved. We are now marching toward a stage of eating healthily and dressing fashionably. After eight years of continuous struggle, by the end of 2020, all 98.99 million rural poor under the current standard were lifted out of poverty, all 832 poverty-stricken counties were removed from the poverty list, and all 128,000 poverty-stricken villages were delisted. Regional overall poverty has been resolved, completing the arduous task of eliminating absolute poverty. This created a miracle in the history of human poverty reduction, achieving the poverty reduction goal of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development ten years ahead of schedule. The Chinese-path to poverty reduction has contributed Chinese wisdom and Chinese solutions to global poverty reduction, and these brilliant achievements demonstrate the institutional advantages of socialism under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. Meanwhile, the promotion of comprehensive rural revitalization has been rolled out across the board through reform, innovation, and bold practice.
II. Uphold Fundamentals and Break New Ground for Comprehensive Rural Revitalization
Promoting comprehensive rural revitalization is an inevitable requirement for resolving the principal contradiction [8] in Chinese society in the New Era, achieving the new Centenary Goal, and realizing the Chinese Dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. It carries great practical significance and profound historical weight. Not only does it establish the developmental goal of achieving agricultural and rural modernization—fully realizing strong agriculture, beautiful countryside, and wealthy farmers—but more importantly, agriculture, rural areas, and farmers will change their previous subordinate status (where they primarily served industry, urban residents, and urban construction). Their status as the main subjects of urban-rural reform, development, and benefit-sharing has been fundamentally established.
The vivid practice of Party-building leadership, using reform to break through problems, gathering talent, and building "harmonious and beautiful" (和美) villages, profoundly reveals to the people: industrial revitalization is the foundation; cultural revitalization is the soul; ecological revitalization is the support; organizational revitalization is the guarantee; and talent revitalization is the key.
To strengthen the country, we must first strengthen agriculture; only with strong agriculture can the country be strong. In building a modern socialist country in all respects and realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, the most arduous and heavy tasks remain in the rural areas; the broadest and deepest foundation remains in the rural areas; and the most harmonious and beautiful prospects remain in the rural areas. We must follow the construction and governance goals of "accelerating industrial agglomeration, improving the ecological environment, enhancing the quality of life, ensuring income growth, and promoting social harmony." We must adapt to local conditions (因地制宜), quicken our pace, emphasize implementation, and value actual results. We must ensure the stable and safe supply of grain and important agricultural products, and solidly promote the effective transition from consolidating the results of poverty alleviation to comprehensive rural revitalization. Using the down-to-earth results of comprehensive rural revitalization, we must ensure that the "ballast stone" (压舱石) role of the rural sector in stabilizing the overall situation of China's economic and social development is fulfilled. The mission is heavy and the road is long.
The task can be summarized into three major priorities: prioritizing grain (以粮为本) to ensure national food security, including the quantity and quality safety of diversified products from farming, forestry, animal husbandry, and fisheries; prioritizing people (以人为本) to ensure the basic rights and interests of farmers, including the basic rights and economic interests of agricultural workers and migrant workers; and prioritizing agriculture (以农为本) to ensure healthy and sustainable development, including the healthy and sustainable development of economy, society, and ecology, with a focus on the ecological environment.
To implement the requirements of the Central Committee, we must accurately grasp the laws, characteristics, and trends of development. We must fully tap into the five major potentials: natural resources, modern agriculture, rural tourism, idle rural houses, and rural culture. We must focus on five areas: enhancing productive capacity, improving the ecological environment, making life convenient and comfortable, making life beautiful and brilliant, and transforming the relations of production. Based on local conditions, we should propose strategic positioning, construction goals, path choices, work priorities, specific measures, supporting measures, and power mechanisms. We should highlight regional characteristics while also being good at drawing on the strengths of others. These plans should be forward-looking, advanced, and operable—integrating resources, seizing keys, solving problems, and advancing pragmatically. We should focus on the "Five Lives" (五生) to achieve the "Five Beauties" (五美): focus on enhancing productive capacity (生产) to achieve thriving industries; focus on improving the ecological environment (生态) to achieve an ecologically livable environment; focus on making life (生活) convenient and comfortable to achieve prosperity; focus on making life (生命) beautiful and bright to achieve civilized social customs; and focus on the transformation of the relations of production (生产关系) to achieve effective governance.
III. Remaining True to the Original Aspiration and Returning to the Source
The report to the 20th CPC National Congress systematically expounded the five characteristics of Chinese-path modernization: it is the modernization of a huge population, the modernization of common prosperity for all, the modernization of material and cultural-ethical progress, the modernization of harmony between humanity and nature, and the modernization of peaceful development. The Decision adopted by the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee emphasized adhering to and implementing the "two unswervinglys" [9]. We must unswervingly consolidate and develop the public sector, and unswervingly encourage, support, and guide the development of the non-public sector. The rural collective economy is an important component of the socialist public economy. Continuously improving and innovating rural management systems and mechanisms is the top priority of deepening rural reform and promoting economic development in the new period.
An original aspiration is easy to have, but consistency is hard to maintain (初心易得，始终难守) [10]. The centennial practice of the Party and the lessons learned tell us that to forget the past is to commit betrayal. In winning the country, defending the country, and building the country (打江山、守江山、建江山) [11], we must never weaken the foundation of agriculture, farmers, and rural areas...
The "Six Necessities": We must place the protection of farmers' rights and interests in the primary position; we must persist in respecting the pioneering spirit of the broad masses of farmers; we must persist in the collective ownership system of the rural laboring masses; we must focus on establishing and improving the system of laws and regulations; we must construct organizational guarantees adapted to rural economic management; and we must firmly grasp the critical "bottom-line thinking" [12]: first, not at the cost of reducing basic farmland; second, not at the cost of damaging the ecological environment; third, not at the cost of harming farmers' rights and interests; and fourth, not at the cost of subverting the collective ownership system.
The Foundation of Livelihood. Rural residents, farmers, arable land, aquaculture surfaces, forests, and grasslands are not only the foundation upon which farmers lead their lives and the basis for rural economic and social development, but they are also the resources with the greatest potential for the distribution of rural collective economic income. The rural collective property upon which farmers rely for production and life is jointly owned by all members of the collective economic organizations in townships, villages, and community groups. This includes collectively owned land and natural resources such as forests, mountains, grasslands, wasteland, tidal flats, and water surfaces that are stipulated by law as collectively owned. It also includes the property rights of rural residential land [13], plots for personal use [14], and hills for personal use; collective enterprise assets established through public accumulation and the investment of capital and labor; assets such as buildings, structures, transport vehicles, machinery, and electromechanical equipment; and funds such as cash, bank deposits, and securities owned by the collective and its enterprises.
The Source of Economic Income. The rights to contracted land management, the usufructuary right to residential land, and the right to the distribution of collective economic returns granted by the collective economy are the most important sources of income for farmers.
The Base for Safeguarding Rights and Interests. Our country has entered a critical period of reform and development, and rural social contradictions have become prominent. By 2021, the reform of the rural collective property rights system had basically completed its phased tasks. As of the end of 2020, there were 6.55 billion mu [15] of collective land nationwide, and 900 million collective members were confirmed, basically achieving the goal of "clear accounts and verified assets."
The main measures for deepening the reform of the rural collective economic system are: first, prioritize the publicity and implementation of laws and regulations to lay a solid foundation for the good governance of the countryside. Second, improve the mechanism of village-level democratic autonomy to smooth out relationships so that all parties perform their respective duties. Third, perfect community collective economic organizations to guarantee operations for the sake of livelihood and rights protection. Fourth, define the qualifications for membership in economic organizations to provide a basis for clarifying property rights. Fifth, optimize the developmental environment of collective organizations to add momentum for sustainable development. Sixth, advance the reform of the collective property rights system to stimulate vitality through mechanism innovation. Seventh, strengthen the institutional construction of collective assets to create conditions for the preservation and appreciation of their value. Eighth, replenish rural economic supervision and service agencies to provide support for guidance and regulation.
We must improve the New Era rural governance system that combines autonomy, the rule of law, and the rule of virtue. In the last century, there was a saying: "Villages look to villages, households look to households, and commune members look to the cadres." Today, "Villages look to villages, households look to households, and the masses look to the Party branch." We should comprehensively advocate and promote the "one-shoulder pole" [16] practice where the Party organization, the village committee, and the collective economic organization are managed together. We must be vigilant against those who, under the guise of expanding the collective economy, attempt to liquidate rural land and ecological resources, or who, in the name of protecting "assets owned by farmers" or "farmers' small-scale assets," add fuel to the fire of rural land privatization. Taking the industrialization of agriculture, the cooperation of production factors, the professionalization of management, the socialization of services, and the capitalization of farmers' equity as the orientation, we must persist in improving the basic rural management system, guide the acceleration of the reform of the rural collective property rights system, and explore innovative and effective forms for the realization of rural collective ownership.
Good governance in the countryside provides the foundational support for opening new horizons, responding to changes, and stabilizing the overall situation. Rural construction must focus on both material objects and people; it must involve both "shaping the form" and "casting the soul." We must grasp both material civilization and spiritual civilization to achieve a comprehensive upgrading of the countryside from the outside in, encompassing both form and spirit. "Rural civilization is the main body of the history of the civilization of the Chinese nation; the village is the carrier of this civilization, and the 'culture of farming and study' [17] is our soft power." The countryside is the birthplace of our country's traditional civilization; the roots of rural culture must not be broken. The countryside must not become a desolate place, a place of "left-behind" residents [18], or a former home that exists only in memory. Building a harmonious and beautiful countryside is for the benefit of the rural people; money should not be spent on unnecessary things, and there should be no large-scale demolition or construction. In particular, ancient villages must be well-protected. "In pursuing New Countryside Construction, we must pay attention to ecological environmental protection and the 'rural flavor' (xiangtu weidao), reflecting rural characteristics, preserving rural scenery, and persisting in inheriting culture, so as to develop beautiful towns and townships with historical memories, regional features, and ethnic characteristics."
The goals for the comprehensive revitalization of the countryside should be: Focusing on the improvement of productive capacity to achieve industrial beauty; Focusing on the improvement of the ecological environment to achieve ecological beauty; Focusing on convenience and comfort to achieve beauty in living; Focusing on making life beautiful and exciting to achieve humanistic beauty; Focusing on the transformation of the relations of production to achieve the beauty of harmony.
(Guan Ruijie, former Inspector and Researcher of the Ministry of Agriculture) Source: People's Forum (cpc.people.com.cn) Web Editor: Hui Hui