China’s rural economy is still inflicted by many deep-rooted
systematic problems that have to be solved through deep reform,
said one head of the State Development and Reform Commission at the
recent national work conference of the commission in Nanchang,
capital city of Jiangxi Province. The commission also outlined four
priorities for the systematic reform of the country’s rural
economy.
Deepen the structural reform of food circulation.
According to the guideline of “opening-up the purchasing market,
giving subsidies directly to grain producers, restructuring
enterprise mechanism and enforcing macro control,” local
development and reform departments should complete their reform
plans and supplemental measures to be taken. They should sum up
past experiences and explore the most efficient way to offer direct
subsidies to grain producers, so as to make sure that the farmers
can have their share of the nation’s achievements gained from the
reform scheme.
Deepen the reform of rural tax- and fee-collection
system. The central government decides to eliminate special
agricultural product tax beginning from 2004 and to call off
agricultural tax nationwide in five years step by step. Recently,
the central government took a bold step to exempt agricultural tax
in Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces, two of China’s major grain
producing bases. The other 11 food-producing provinces will enjoy a
taxation reduction of 3 percent this year. To reinforce the
progress of rural tax- and fee-collection reform, county- and
township-level governments must be streamlined so as to reduce the
number of civil servants supported by local finance. Meanwhile, the
mechanism of rural compulsory education must be reinforced and
improved on the basis of county-level administration.?
Deepen the reform of land requisition mechanism. A strict
line must be drawn between lands for public benefit and that for
commercial operation purposes while defining the governments’
authority to land requisition and locations allowed for
requisition. For land used for public benefit, standard procedures
for land expropriation must be applied and compensation standard
should be reasonably raised. While requisitioning lands for
commercial operation, market mechanism must be applied and the
farmers affected must be resettled properly and provided with
social securities.
Reform and renovate rural financial system. It is
stressed that nationwide reform of rural credit cooperatives should
be carried out on the basis of pilot projects while post office’s
savings system being improved so as to adjust the functions of
agricultural banking and foster an agricultural insurance system
with policy-orientated support.
(China.org.cn by Xu Zhiquan, April 25, 2004)