Editorial Office article: Facing the historical node of urban-rural structural transformation

The agricultural country is established and the agriculture is stable.

The history of the five thousand years of civilization in China tells us that China's agriculture and rural areas are the source and source of Chinese culture. Chinese farmers are the most persistent inheritors of Chinese culture.

The history of the modern century tells us that the issue of “agriculture, rural areas and farmers” is a basic issue that runs through the road to national rejuvenation and China’s modernization process.

Since the founding of the Communist Party of China, in all historical periods of revolution, construction, and reform, they have consistently combined the basic principles of Marxism with the concrete conditions of our country and placed the issue of “agriculture, rural areas and farmers” in an important position concerning the development of the party and the country’s undertakings. It has always attached great importance to it. We have taken serious measures to deal with these issues and successfully solved the victory path of the new-democratic revolution and created a new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

At present, with the rapid development of industrialization and urbanization, taking the historical changes in the urban and rural population structure of our country as an important symbol for the urban population exceeding the rural population for the first time, the modernization process and the development of “three rural issues” have emerged an unprecedented new situation. In the face of this major trend change, scientific study and judgment, profound understanding, and correct understanding of its direction are of great significance in promoting the building of an overall well-to-do society and the simultaneous development of “three changes”.

"San Nong" Develops a New "Golden Age" in the Process of Modernization

The "three rural" national conditions are the basic starting point of China's modernization. In the process of modernization, we need a long-term and stable basis for the development of agriculture, rural areas and farmers.

Judging from the current situation, we must see that from the perspective of the increase in the material wealth of peasants, the strengthening of agricultural production capacity, and the stability of rural society, the development of “agriculture, rural areas and farmers” is generally a “golden period” since the reform and opening up. ".

The 10 years since the party’s 16th National Congress was one of the fastest growing periods of China’s modernization process under the rapid advance of industrialized urbanization. It is also one of the periods when China’s agricultural and rural development has undergone a historical upheaval and farmers have obtained the most benefits. The remarkable progress made in the development of agriculture and rural areas shows that the development of “three rural issues” in China has entered an unprecedented “golden period”. During this period, the “agriculture, rural areas and farmers” undertaking has become a strong foundation for China’s modernization process and it has also shared more shares in the modernization results than before.

In the early 1980s, through the implementation of the "three rural" development "golden period" formed by the rural household contract responsibility system, the rural productivity was liberated from the old institutional constraints, and the agricultural and rural economy developed rapidly, solving most of the problems. The issue of food and clothing for the rural population laid the foundation for comprehensive reform and development. Since the new century, the new "three-agricultural" development "golden period" is expected to allow the simultaneous development of agricultural modernization and industrialization and urbanization, so that the majority of rural areas enjoy the level of public services integrated with the city, so that the majority of farmers as soon as possible to get rich and get a comprehensive well-off life.

During the “golden period” for the development of the new “three rural issues”, due to proper policies and measures in place, the “eight-fold increase” in grain output was achieved, and the growth of farmers’ income was “eight consecutive times”. In 2011, the income of urban residents in China increased by 14.1%, and the income of rural residents increased by 17.9%. This shows that the income gap between urban and rural residents tends to shrink. The real growth rate of per capita net income of rural residents was the highest since 1985 and was faster than that of urban residents for two consecutive years. At the same time, the central government decided to use rural residents' per capita net income of 2,300 yuan (2010 constant price) as a new national poverty alleviation standard, which was 92% higher than in 2009, and included more rural low-income people in the scope of poverty alleviation and increased poverty alleviation efforts. In 2012, the national government's investment in agriculture, rural areas and farmers will reach 1,288.7 billion yuan, an increase of 186.8 billion yuan over the previous year. By the end of the year, the new rural social endowment insurance system will be fully covered. In this context, the trend of narrowing the urban-rural income gap is expected to continue.

The new “three-agricultural” development “golden period” is not a historical accident, but comes from the strong will of the Chinese communists who always uphold the banner of national rejuvenation and is determined to advance the modernization process. The issue of strategic importance as a top priority for the work of the whole party stems from the solution to the problem of “agriculture, countryside and farmers” through the overall planning of economic and social development in urban and rural areas. The problem stems from the complete elimination of agricultural taxes, the implementation of direct grain subsidies, improved varieties, and subsidies for agricultural machinery. The series of policies and measures to make more use of agricultural subsidies, such as direct subsidy for agricultural subsidies and other agricultural subsidies, have come from the hard work of cadres and masses at all levels. The new “three-agricultural” development “golden period” has been greatly welcomed by the majority of peasants because of the remarkable effect of the policy of strengthening agriculture, benefiting agriculture, and enriching agriculture.

The Key Period of Adjusting the Relationship between Workers and Peasants in Urban and Rural Areas in the Background of Integrated Development
In recent years, China has been able to successfully respond to the impact of the international financial crisis and maintain the steady and rapid development of the national economy. It is very important that the country is based on the good situation of agricultural and rural development. In the overall good development of agriculture and rural areas, it cannot be overlooked that although rural areas are the birthplace of reforms, along with the deepening of reform and development and horizontal comparison, “three rural issues” is still a significant short-board in the process of China’s modernization. Some deep-seated problems and contradictions that hinder the long-term development of the “three rural issues” and the comprehensive advancement of the modernization process are being highlighted. Some practices that block the inheritance and development of outstanding achievements of traditional civilization still exist.

With the deepening of the overall economic and social development of urban and rural areas, in the course of the deepening of China’s industrialization and urbanization, at present, the adjustment of the relationship between urban and rural workers and peasants in our country has entered a crucial period that determines the future direction. In this critical period, the relationship between urban and rural workers and peasants is speeding up to adjust the combination status. Significant changes have taken place in the urban and rural industrial structure, social structure, population structure, and employment structure. Major changes have been made to the relationship between urban and rural workers and peasants, agricultural development methods, and agricultural production and management. Especially in 2011, China's urban population reached 69.079 million, and the proportion of the total population reached 51.27%. This is what China's socio-economic structure has produced for thousands of years. It can be said that it is the most profound change. The thousands of years of change in the Chinese dynasty and the wave of agitation in modern times have not changed a basic fact: the agricultural population has always been the majority. In 2011, the urban population exceeded the rural population for the first time. This seemingly subtle change in numbers has become a milestone in China's modernization process. While we are gratified and inspired by the economic and social development, we need to analyze and scientifically grasp the further development of this trend.

Comprehensive analysis of the current "three rural" development situation can be summarized in the following six major changes: First, with the rapid progress of urbanization, rural land is decreasing. In particular, a large number of good land in the suburbs of the city has been expropriated. Even where land is not reduced, the quality of cultivated land is generally declining. From the total area of ​​arable land announced by the Ministry of Land and Resources, from 191 million mu in 2001 to 1.825 billion mu in 2008 (unprecedented data from 2009 to the present), the total cultivated land in China is still above the red line of 1.8 billion mu. However, it still showed a decreasing trend and approached 1.8 billion mu of red line. How long can the "red line" stay? Has become a major issue that must be vigilant.

Second, with the increase of urbanization rate, the rural population is decreasing. In particular, rural high-quality labor is decreasing. In 2011, the proportion of China's rural population to the total population fell below 50% for the first time to 48.73%, and the total number of migrant workers reached 253 million (a considerable part of which has been counted as urban population), among which 159 million were migrant workers. Young and middle-aged agricultural laborers account for less than 50% of agricultural employees. In the future, the question of "who will plant the land" has become the focus of attention of all walks of life.

Third, with the implementation of the policies of relocation and poverty alleviation and centralized residence, the speed of the merger of some local natural villages or even administrative villages has accelerated, rural villages have decreased, and rural schools have significantly decreased. Statistics from the Ministry of Education show that the number of rural primary schools in the country was 512,993 in 1997, 234,157 in 2009, and the total number of schools decreased by 278,836, and the total amount was reduced by more than half. It is worthwhile to seriously study how to respect the wishes of farmers, safeguard the rights and interests of farmers, maintain the appearance and ecology of the countryside, and promote the harmonious development of rural areas in the process of village mergers and the construction of hollow villages.

Fourth, with the steady increase in the proportion of wage income, property income and transfer income, the proportion of rural family operating income is decreasing. In 2009, it fell below 50% for the first time, and only 46.2% in 2011. The significant changes in the growth pattern of farmers’ income have important reference significance for further promoting the rapid growth of farmers’ income.

Fifth, with the large-scale transfer of agricultural surplus labor force, the improvement of the scale of land management, a new pattern of rural productivity is being formed with large grain producers and farmers' specialized production cooperatives as the main body of the market. According to the monitoring of the Ministry of Agriculture, in recent years, rural households in small-scale production and management in rural China have been declining. Size-based farmers have increased rapidly. In 2011, the scale of livestock husbandry was more than 50%. More than 520,000 farmer professional cooperatives have been established throughout the country, and farmers have joined farmers. The proportion of specialized cooperatives has reached 15.2%. This change reflects the requirements of modern agricultural development and will certainly have a significant and far-reaching positive impact on China's agricultural and rural development.

Sixth, with the diversification of rural strata, the diversification of interest demands and the regularization of rural population flows, the management of rural society has become more difficult. At present, about 58 million left-behind children, 40 million left-behind children, and tens of millions of left-behind women in the country are steadfast in the countryside as the families of migrant workers. Problems have become more pronounced and rural social management is facing new challenges.

These six major changes are mostly new phenomena that have never occurred in the history of civilization in our country since the late twentieth century. Among them, many are positive changes, and many are obvious problems, even thorny ones. We need to take this issue seriously and properly handle it.

The Deepening Reform Period of the Development of "Agriculture, Countryside and Farmers" in the Process of Social Transformation

At present, grasping the key period of the adjustment of urban-rural relations between workers and peasants, clearly understanding the new changes, and striving to make the new "golden period" continue, is of great significance in promoting the integration of urban and rural development and the "three rural" development to a new level. Unusual.

China is rapidly transforming from an agricultural society to an industrial society and a traditional society to a modern society. This led to profound changes in agriculture and rural areas, from static to dynamic, from closed to open, from single to multi-accelerated, and profound changes in social structure. After more than 30 years of implementation of the reforms that began in the rural areas, the "agriculture, rural areas, and peasants" business has again come to an important period that urgently requires further reforms to promote new development.

How to guide the “three rural issues” in the benign interaction between urban and rural areas not only consolidates the foundation of the overall development but also meets the strong desire of the broad masses to realize common prosperity and happiness, so as to promote the healthy and sustainable development of the modernization process. This is the current “three rural” issue. The important task of career reform and development.

We will promote the reform of the allocation mechanism for factor resources, strengthen agricultural production and ensure the supply of agricultural products.

"Anyone who has food will have everything." Comrade Deng Xiaoping's agricultural thought formed in the era of revolutionary warfare is still the top priority of China's economic construction. We must soberly realize that China's relatively weak agricultural foundation, huge population of agricultural workers, and scarcity of land and water resources are all long-standing constraints and will continue throughout the modernization process.

Although the share of agriculture in GDP is declining, it was 10.1% in 2011, but the basic position of agriculture will not diminish. At present, the supply situation of domestic and international major agricultural products is relatively good, and the national growth rate of 7.5% is cut down. This is very favorable for overcoming the constraints of agricultural development. The price increase of major agricultural products tends to slow down, and individual phenomena such as “going on the onion” do not change. This overall situation. However, the agricultural production capacity is still not stable, the relationship between supply and demand is still tight, and the modernization of agriculture still lags behind industrialization and urbanization. In the context of growing constraints on agricultural resources and resources, rising prices of production factors, and increasingly fierce international competition in agriculture, It has become the bottleneck of the overall modernization drive. A slight misstep will affect the overall economic development and social stability, and will exert greater and greater pressure on the further promotion of industrialization and urbanization. The key period for building an overall well-to-do society and the golden period for the development of agriculture, rural areas, and farmers are challenges that we must deal with.

In the crucial period of adjustment of the relationship between workers and peasants in urban and rural areas, in the trend of market-oriented allocation of resources such as land, labor, and capital in urban and rural areas, we need to play a good role in guiding and regulating the “visible hand,” and persist in valuing the priorities. We must do everything possible to maintain the steady and steady development of agriculture; in the rapid development of industrialization and urbanization, we must fill in the shortcomings of agricultural modernization as soon as possible and strive to ensure the safe and effective supply of agricultural products. This is a priority issue that must be solved in the process of China’s modernization. It should be the focus of building a new type of relationship between workers and peasants and between urban and rural areas in the new era.

We will promote the reform of the fiscal investment system and promote the transformation of the urban-rural dual social structure to the harmonious development pattern of urban-rural integration.

We must soberly realize that the biggest gap in development in our country is still the gap between urban and rural areas. The biggest structural issue is still the dual structure of urban and rural areas. To solve the "three rural issues", that is, to promote the urban-rural dual social structure to the urban-rural integration and harmonious development pattern transformation issues, as the most important task of the whole party, should be the priority of national financial input.

The rapid development of industrialization and urbanization has created favorable conditions for solving the "three rural issues" problem, but it will not naturally bring about a rapid change in the appearance of the countryside. If it is handled badly, the gap between urban and rural areas will widen. At the same time, we must also see that China’s population is huge. Even if the level of urbanization is greatly increased in the future, hundreds of millions of people will still live in the countryside, and they must also lead a modern and civilized life. The construction of a new countryside will be a long-term task and must be promoted in a down-to-earth manner. While the level of urbanization in China exceeds 50%, it is accompanied by the seasonal migration of large-scale populations (migrant workers, etc.) that are rare in the world. This shows that our urbanization structure is not yet reasonable and the level is not high enough. The overwhelming majority are still homeless and the measures to promote the urbanization of the population are still not in place. This situation urgently needs to be improved and resolved.

At present, the gap between urban and rural development is particularly obvious in terms of infrastructure. To form a new pattern of integration of urban and rural economic and social development, we must accelerate the reform of urban and rural infrastructure construction, vigorously promote the construction of rural infrastructure, and break the traffic, energy, water, and environmental protection. The system achieves overall planning and overall convergence, reforms the infrastructure investment and financing system, adjusts the focus of financial capital investment, shifts the focus of infrastructure construction to rural areas, continuously improves rural infrastructure conditions, and gradually improves the coverage of urban and rural infrastructure networks.

After 30 years of average annual growth of 10%, China has become the world’s second largest economy and largest exporter of commodities. In 2011, its GDP was 47.2 trillion yuan, an increase of 9.2% over the previous year, and public finance revenue was 10.37 trillion yuan. Yuan, an increase of 24.8%. This makes the country already has the strength to invest in regular “three rural issues” beyond the investment in promoting rural basic public services to reach the average urban level and solve the problem of migrant workers in the transitional period. While strengthening the national phase investment in urban-rural social transition, we must also promote the steady growth of private investment. In particular, encourage urban private investment to enter the countryside to develop leisure agriculture and strengthen rural infrastructure, so that the basic public services enjoyed by urban and rural residents are equal. Change. This will not only promote rural consumption, but also improve the quality of rural human capital. In the long run, it will contribute to the realization of social fairness and justice, and will enable peasants to live happier and more dignified, thus promoting social stability and harmony. Support agriculture, care about the hardships of farmers, pay attention to the development of rural areas, promote sustainable growth on the basis of equitable distribution, coordinate economic and social development in urban and rural areas, build a new socialist countryside, and share the benefits of modernization and global economic development for all citizens, including farmers. The benefits brought about by the transformation are not general charity and moral politics, but are strategic choices that are in line with the laws of social development. They are not only a solution to the issue of equity, but also a solution to long-term efficiency problems. They are a fundamental solution to the "three rural issues" problem. .

Promote the reform of rural institutional mechanisms to create a good environment for agricultural and rural development.

At present, the resident population in rural areas is mainly the elderly, women and children, and the average age of the agricultural labor force tends to be aging. This shows that under conditions of severe urban-rural livelihood imbalance, the popularity and vitality of rural areas are declining. Who will plant land in the future? Who will develop rural areas? How to develop agricultural and rural areas? These issues urgently need to vigorously promote the reform of rural institutional mechanisms and create a good environment for agricultural and rural development.

To advance the reform of the rural institutional system, we must pilot the exploration of the same-price and same-price reform of land for urban and rural construction. The key to promoting the reform of the collective land expropriation system is to protect the farmers’ land property rights and allocate the value-added benefits of land non-agriculturalization and urbanization. It should be noted that China's economic development has greatly improved, and it is no longer necessary to reduce the cost of industrialized urbanization by sacrificing farmers’ rights to land and land. It is necessary and conditional to significantly increase the distribution ratio of farmers in land appreciation revenue.

In order to promote the reform of rural institutional mechanisms, we must focus on the construction of the basic system of rural land management on the premise of adhering to the unruffled basic management system in rural areas, do a good job in registering and granting the right to ownership of all types of land in rural collectives, and promote the inclusion of farmers. Rural collective construction land use rights, including homesteads, will be registered and awarded, trials for rural land contractual management rights will be steadily expanded, and management and services for the transfer of land contractual management rights will be strengthened, and appropriate scale operations will be developed. Gradually test and explore conditions to allow urban residents to contract land and engage in agricultural production in rural areas. It is necessary to further improve the property rights of collective forest rights and contract home-to-household reforms, and accelerate the pace of grassland contracting reforms. We must support the development of professional farmer cooperatives and industrialized leading enterprises, carry out various forms of agricultural socialization services, develop agricultural insurance, and increase the degree of agricultural industrialization and organization. It is necessary to do a good job of cleaning up and resolving public debt in the countryside and exploring an effective mechanism for the construction of village-level public welfare undertakings in the new situation. We will deepen the reform of the agricultural science and technology system, accelerate the establishment of new institutional mechanisms for agricultural science and technology innovation, and promotion of agricultural technology, conscientiously sum up experiences in piloting integrated reforms for urban and rural development, and do a good job in rural reform pilot areas.

In the process of advancing rural reforms, cultivating new types of farmers is a fundamental project that affects the long-term development of agriculture. With the rapid development of urbanization and industrialization, there should be no bleak village scene. There should be a prosperous community in rural areas, a prosperous professional farmer, and a thriving industrial competitiveness-based industry chain that focuses on agricultural production. To nurture new-type professional farmers, we must balance urban and rural economic and social development, actively and steadily push forward the reform of the household registration system, promote the equalization of public services in urban and rural areas, promote the integration of urban and rural social security, remove the identity of farmers as soon as possible, and return to the occupational attributes of farmers.

We will promote the reform of the rural governance structure and ensure that farmers' rights and interests are respected and respected.

In rural areas today, different villages have different levels of development. Different rural households have different business projects, different income levels, and different interests. Farmers' ideas and concepts have undergone profound changes. The willingness to participate equally in the development process and share development achievements has been increasing. Hopefully more. The requirements for participation in the management and decision-making of rural public affairs have become increasingly strong. The profound changes that have taken place in agriculture and rural areas have also put forward new requirements and new challenges for the construction of rural harmonious society and the governance mechanism of villages.

In order to deepen rural reforms, we must strengthen the construction of rural grass-roots organizations. We must introduce professional social organizations to participate in rural governance and improve the rural governance structure in accordance with local conditions. We must always respect the wishes and creativity of farmers, and we should not make decisions on behalf of farmers or on behalf of farmers, and we must not make forced orders. Even if it is to do good things for the farmers, we must allow the peasants to have a process of understanding and accepting them. We should not seek to achieve uniformity and one step at a time. We must not only reflect the will of the majority, but also fully consider the special circumstances and reasonable demands of the minority. In order to effectively protect and develop the rights and interests of peasants, we must fully respect the material interests of peasants in the economy, and politically guarantee the democratic rights of peasants. To safeguard the rights and interests of farmers, new ideas and measures must be taken not only to increase the income of farmers in production and management, but also to protect the rights and interests of farmers in land, property, employment, social security, and public services; not only must farmers be themselves Willingness to participate in the reelection of the village committee, but also pay more attention to expand the scope of self-governance of the villagers, improve the township and township governance mechanisms that are consistent with the increasing awareness of the farmers’ political participation; not only to the peasants, but also to see, feel the immediate benefits, but also to Considering the long-term and paying attention to fundamentally pursuing the welfare of the peasants, it is necessary not only to effectively protect the legitimate rights and interests of peasants, but also to protect and inspire the creativity of the peasants to the maximum; it is necessary not only to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of rural peasants, but also to effectively safeguard them. And protect the rights and interests of peasants working in cities so that they can enjoy the same treatment as urban residents in terms of employment, medical care, education, retirement, and housing.

Promote the reform of rural cultural construction, pay attention to the protection and development of outstanding historical and cultural traditions.

The "Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Deepening the Reform of the Cultural System to Promote the Development and Prosperity of Socialist Culture" adopted by the Sixth Plenary Session of the 17th CPC Central Committee put forward the grand goal of building a socialist cultural country. Socialist rural culture is an important part of the socialist cultural system with Chinese characteristics. Developing and prospering socialist rural culture is the aspiration and expectation of hundreds of millions of peasants, and it is also a key measure for inheriting and developing the traditional culture of the Chinese nation. In the process of promoting the integration of urban and rural areas, it is necessary to pay more attention to the protection and promotion of outstanding historical and cultural traditions, because how to protect historical traditions and cultural traditions in the process of industrialization and modernization is also a worldwide problem. For a long time, due to our lack of knowledge and lack of foresight, there have been a lot of damages and losses that should not have occurred in some places. It is very painful but it can never be restored. There are many places in the rural areas where the historical and cultural heritage is very deep. In the large-scale construction of urban-rural integration, historical and cultural traditions and cultural heritage should be well preserved and promoted. Only by building such a modernization and urban-rural integration can we cut history and make it more colorful.

There is no absolute one-way evolutionary civilization model in the world and universal development path. The main history of China since ancient times has been farming civilization. Western industrial civilization is a civilization that consumes world resources. China's natural resources and resources are destined to withstand such a development model. China's farming civilization has endured thousands of years of history of Chinese civilization and cultivated a splendid culture with profound vitality. The country is home to countless Chinese people whose hometown complex is thicker than water, and is the spiritual home of almost all Chinese people. In order to disintegrate Chinese villages in the process of urbanization, it is necessary to increase the level of infrastructure in the process of development while allowing rural areas to remain rural rather than becoming vassals of cities or cities. At present, China still has rural villages. While farmers learn to manage their own self-management, they still retain the local culture of “promoting the virtues of the German industry, dealing with negligence, rituals, customs, and difficulties”, and thus there is a natural and humanistic survival model. There is also the possibility of establishing an ecosystem from residential areas to health and rural cultural industries to autonomous rural communities. Because of the serious imbalance between urban and rural life, farmers may not be able to cultivate the pastoral situation, and they may still be able to reverse it.

Premier Wen Jiabao stated in his government work report this year that we must use our actions to tell the world that China does not rely on sacrificing the ecological environment and people’s health in exchange for economic growth. We will certainly be able to develop a civilization that is well-developed, prosperous and ecologically sound. the way. We are convinced that this road of development with Chinese characteristics will surely create a new situation for the development of China’s “agriculture, rural areas and farmers” and create a happy and happy new life for hundreds of millions of farmers.