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> <fontfamily><param>Courier New</param>CHINA
>
> </fontfamily><fontfamily><param>·s²Ó©úÅé</param>
>
> </fontfamily>Peasants, agriculture and the rural in China today
>
>
> Zhang Kai
>
>
> The questions of peasants, agriculture and the rural in China today have
> aggravated to a point of crisis though official economic figures seemed
> to fare well. In 2000, the state revenue had rapidly increased, with the
> rate of increase being three times that of economic growth, and Premier
> Zhu Rongji reported that the per capita net income of the rural
> population was 2,253 yuan, a real increase of 2.1% over the preceding
> year. He also reported that the average annual increase in the last five
> years was 4.7%. However, there appear to be many discrepancies with
> reports by experts and researchers, as well as the fact that there has
> been a drop in the cultivated area, output and prices.
>
> According to the statistics announced by the State Statistics Bureau,
> grain output for 2000 decreased by 9% as compared to 1999. The direct
> factor for this was a 5.3% decrease in the cultivated area. 2000 was the
> first year since 1949 when the cultivated area was smallest, dropping to
> below the warning level of 110 million hectares. The Statistics Bureau
> estimated that there would be a further decrease in 2001 of 1.7% of the
> cultivated land, which means cultivated land will drop to 107 million
> hectares.
>
> The main reason for the severe reduction of farmland is because peasants
> find farming unprofitable under the many heavy tariffs. Farmland has been
> abandoned. The Wen Wei Po in Hong Kong reported on February 19 that even
> in some key farming areas in the Dongting Lake area, which has
> traditionally been endowed with fertile land and good harvests, large
> areas of good land have been abandoned in recent years. In Nan County, up
> to September 2000, only 50% of land has been re-contracted by peasants.
> In some villages, over 70% of farmland has been abandoned. Peasants
> pointed out directly that they did so in order to avoid having to
> shoulder heavy agricultural and rural tariffs.
>
> These problems have drawn the concern of many experts in the PRC. Below
> are excerpts taken from an essay written by the scholar Lu Xueyi,
> entitled {SYMBOL 147}Finding a way out of the urban-rural segregation,
> and two policies for one country{SYMBOL 148}.1 He said, the purchasing
> power of rural residents had been on the decrease for several years
> despite good harvests since 1996. After the winter of 1996, peasants had
> experienced difficulties in selling grain and cotton, and after the
> summer of 1999, in selling almost all major agricultural products. The
> per capita income from growing grain had dropped by over 300 yuan in 1999
> as compared to 1996. In 1996, per capita income of peasants from growing
> cotton was 68.07 yuan, but it dropped to 36.68 yuan in 1999. Yet, income
> from grain and cotton made up the major income of agricultural products,
> especially in central and western regions. Within three years from 1997
> to 1999, the prices of grain and cotton had dropped by 30-40%.
>
> During the same period, rural industries were also experiencing
> difficulties, and about 40% were in a state of production stagnation or
> semi-stagnation. At the same time, peasants working in urban areas were
> being laid off as restrictions were imposed on the employment of rural
> workers to ease the unemployment of the urban folk. In 1995, it was
> estimated that rural workers amounted to 80 million, and in 1999, it was
> estimated at 60 million. If on average a rural worker{SYMBOL 146}s net
> annual income in the cities was 2,000 yuan, it meant a decrease of 60
> billion yuan of cash income for the countryside in a year.
>
> Another scholar Wen Tiejun, when answering questions from the
> journalists in an article {SYMBOL 147}Resolving the three rural issues by
> integrated reform{SYMBOL 148}, pointed out that the problem of inflation
> of rural organizations had been prevalent. He said that in the early
> 1980s, a township would pay the wages of 8 cadres. By mid 80s, the
> establishment increased to about 30 people. Now, the usual number was
> 300. In some advanced regions, the towns would have an establishment of
> 800-1000. But in recent years, the rural economy ran badly, more rural
> industries had gone bankrupt, and the townships and villages were
> burdened with heavy debts. According to a survey of the Ministry of
> Agriculture in 1997 on ten provinces, the average debt of a township was
> 4 million yuan, and a village 200,000 yuan. Now, some townships had a
> heavy debt of 40 million yuan. This meant much of the brunt would be
> borne by peasants, and usury would be flagrant.
>
> This is the reason for the continued exploitation of peasants despite
> repeated orders and decrees from the central government on alleviating
> the burdens on peasants.
>
> The poverty in the countryside may be seen in the deterioration of rural
> education. Outbreaks of protests have taken place by parents and pupils
> against the heavy fees. For example, on February 11, 2001, in Xiantao
> Town, Chaoyang County, Guangdong Province, about 800 primary school
> pupils took to the street, attacked the government building, and burnt
> the furniture and files in a protest against the levying of supplementary
> fees in education.2
>
> A tragedy which broke out in Fanglin Village, Wanzai County, Jiangxi
> Province reveals the plight in the rural scene. An explosion took place
> in a primary school in the village on March 6, 2001, reportedly killing
> 41 teachers and pupils, and injuring 27. Wen Wei Po reported that the
> school had the pupils work on fireworks in order to earn money for the
> school. 50 kilograms of saltpeter was reported to be stored in the
> school, material for making the fireworks. According to Sing Tao Daily
> News, a person from the management of a fireworks factory said that it
> was a prevalent practice for rural schools or households to be producing
> fireworks or firecrackers in violation of safety regulations. With annual
> income from farming amounting to only about 1,000 yuan, the income from
> working on fireworks would be 5-6 yuan a day. On the day of explosion in
> the Fanglin school, two classes of primary three pupils were working on
> the fuse of the fireworks. It was mandatory for pupils to do such work,
> or else they would have to pay a penalty of 2 yuan a day. The government
> later denied that the primary school was engaged in the processing work
> of fireworks, and attributed the incident to the sabotage of a lunatic Li
> Chuicai. However, some German journalists interviewed Li{SYMBOL 146}s
> former classmates who said that Li was a worker responsible for
> transporting the saltpeter and fireworks between the factory and the
> school. He also died in the explosion.3
>
> There has been more voicing of dissent and criticism of the policies on
> peasants, agriculture and the rural, and some come from within the
> government and the Party. However, some of those that have made their
> criticisms have encountered revenge and blows. One example is Li
> Changping, a township party secretary who petitioned the central
> government on these issues, but due to his outspokenness, he was forced
> to resign in September 2000, after which he found a job in Shenzhen. Yet,
> his popularity can be seen in his being elected by about 30,000 votes on
> the internet and letters by the Nanfang Zhoumo Newspaper as the Man of
> the Year, as hope and conscience of China. His case indicates the public
> opinion against bureaucratic control and privileges, and in sympathy for
> the plight of the peasants.
>
>
> March 20, 2001
>
>
> 1 See Dushu, No.5 of 2000.0
>
> 2 Apple Daily April 14, 2001.
>
> 3 See Apple Daily March 10, 2001.
>
>
> October Review Vol.28 Issue 1 2001.3.31
>
>
>
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