Launch Event for the "Forty Years of China's Rural Reform Research Series" and Seminar on Theories for Comprehensively Promoting Rural Revitalization Held in Beijing
On April 23, 2022, the launch ceremony for the "Forty Years of Research on China's Rural Reform" book series and the Theoretical Symposium on Comprehensively Advancing Rural Revitalization were successfully held at the Institute of Marxism Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). Xin Xiangyang, Secretary of the Party Committee of the Institute of Marxism Studies, CASS, attended and delivered the opening remarks. Gong Yun, Vice President of the Institute of Marxism Studies, CASS, presided over the meeting, while Yu Bin, a research fellow and Director of the Department of Marxist Principles at the Institute, moderated the expert presentations. More than thirty experts and scholars from various units—including the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Tsinghua University, Renmin University of China, China Agricultural University, the Central Institute of Socialism, the journal Studies on Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping Theories, the CASS Institute of Contemporary China Studies, the Institute of Marxism Studies, the Rural Development Institute, and the Institute of Economics—along with journalists from media outlets such as People's Daily, Guangming Daily, and China Social Sciences Today, attended the meeting. Participating experts engaged in in-depth discussions focused on the "Forty Years of Research on China's Rural Reform" series, "comprehensively advancing rural revitalization," and "sannong" [1] issues.
In his opening address, Research Fellow Xin Xiangyang evaluated the "Forty Years of Research on China's Rural Reform" series. He noted four characteristics of the series: first, it is comprehensive and systematic; second, it is detailed and in-depth; third, it combines theory with practice; and fourth, its scholarship reflects reality, embodying an organic integration of academic, theoretical, and practical qualities. He further pointed out that "sannong" issues remain the top priority of the entire Party’s work, and that reform is the "magic weapon" [2] for comprehensively advancing rural revitalization. He emphasized the current priorities and keys to rural reform in several areas: reforming the rural land system, reforming the rural collective property rights system, improving the mechanisms for integrated urban-rural development, maintaining the systemic nature of reform, and making good use of pilot reform experiments.
Yang Chunhua, Deputy Director of the Research Center for Rural Economy of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, spoke on behalf of Director Jin Wencheng. The presentation was titled "Promoting Theoretical Innovation and Leading the Development of Sannong." The speech noted that since the beginning of reform and opening up, China has entered a new period of socialist modernization, and the Communist Party of China's (CPC) leadership over "sannong" work has achieved a major historical turning point, yielding numerous theoretical innovations and significant results. The CPC has been able to achieve these results because it has: first, consistently upheld the Party's comprehensive leadership over "sannong" work; second, consistently maintained the fundamental interests of the peasants; third, consistently deepened rural reform; fourth, consistently proceeded from reality in all matters [3]; and fifth, consistently persisted in coordinated urban-rural development.
Research Fellow Du Zhixiong, Secretary of the Party Committee of the CASS Rural Development Institute, spoke on the development of the new type of collective economy and common prosperity. He argued that the overall goal of the rural revitalization strategy is to accelerate the realization of agricultural and rural modernization. Its core issue is to further resolve the question of the overall common prosperity of urban and rural residents after absolute poverty has been eliminated.
Professor Lin Wanlong, Vice President of China Agricultural University, gave a presentation titled "From Eliminating Absolute Poverty to Moving Toward Common Prosperity." He argued that while China has achieved great success in eliminating absolute poverty over the past 40 years, there are still many weak links in consolidating those achievements. The most urgent issue currently is the transition and alignment of the assistance policy system.
Research Fellow Yuan Peng, Deputy Director of the CASS Rural Development Institute, focused on the practical exploration and challenges of "three-governance integration" [4] in rural governance. She argued that local pilot programs for "three-governance integration" have achieved a series of theoretical and practical innovations in terms of villager self-governance, the rule of law in villages, and moral education. However, they still face challenges such as passive participation by villagers, unresolved integration mechanisms, and the difficulty of changing villagers' mindsets. Further deepening of reform is required in the future.
Research Fellow Zheng Yougui, Director of the Second Research Department of the CASS Institute of Contemporary China Studies, argued that since reform and opening up, explorations in rural collective economic reform have shaped the basic rural economic system with Chinese characteristics. This book series has made its own efforts and contributions to describing the collective economy with Chinese characteristics. He also provided an insightful critique of the book Research on the Reform and Development of China's Rural Collective Economy within the series.
Research Fellow Cao Yongxin, Executive Associate Editor of Studies on Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping Theories, argued that the significance of both the publication of this series and the establishment of the New Era Collective Economy Research Branch of the Chinese Society of Political Economy lies in upholding and grasping the "power of discourse" [5] and ensuring the guiding position of Marxism. Reform and opening up, especially China's rural reform, must uphold the guiding position of Marxism and the leadership of the CPC. This is a fundamental question of direction.
Subsequently, participating scholars continued their in-depth discussion on comprehensively advancing rural revitalization. Research Fellow Zhao Xuejun, Director of the Research Department of Modern Chinese Economic History at the CASS Institute of Economics, studied the issue of concentrated residence and household welfare by analyzing tracking survey data from Xinhui Community in Wuxi City. Professor Wang Chuanli from the School of Marxism at Tsinghua University began with a discussion of the relationship between industry and agriculture and between urban and rural areas, reflecting deeply on the fundamental question of where the countryside is headed. Professor Zuo Peng, Deputy Director of the Department of Marxist Theory at the Central Institute of Socialism, took Deng Xiaoping's "second leap" [6] regarding socialist agricultural reform and development as a starting point, proposing the profound viewpoint that intensification is not equivalent to collectivization. Research Fellow Rong Xinchun of the CASS Institute of Economics discussed common prosperity and the reshaping of peasants' spiritual and cultural lives from the perspective of "spiritual prosperity." Professor Tong Zhihui from the School of Agricultural and Rural Development at Renmin University of China argued that the formation of a new type of industry-agriculture and urban-rural relationship should be promoted on the basis of improving relations between peasants. Professor Li Ming from the School of Marxism at China Agricultural University argued that reform remains the "key move" [7] for agricultural and rural development, and that the New Era requires continued research into the building of primary-level Party organizations in rural areas.
The authors of the "Forty Years of Research on China's Rural Reform" series each delivered remarks.
Research Fellow Gong Yun, Vice President of the Institute of Marxism Studies, CASS, provided the conference summary. Gong Yun first briefly commented on the insightful speeches of the experts, suggesting that workers in the philosophy and social sciences should keep in mind General Secretary Xi Jinping’s instructions and persist in "doing scholarship for the people" in accordance with the expectations and requirements of the Party, the state, and the people. Finally, Gong Yun argued that experts from various research institutions and fields should break down disciplinary boundaries and continue to conduct interdisciplinary research and cooperation on rural reform and development and "sannong" issues. This will contribute scholarly wisdom and strength to the strategy of comprehensively advancing rural revitalization and the goal of fully building a modern socialist powerhouse.