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AugThe National Bureau of Statistics released the Report on Economic and Social Development Achievements for the 70th Anniversary of the Founding of the People’s Republic of China a few days ago. The Report shows that, in 2018, rural residents’ per capita disposal income was RMB 14,617, with average monthly income over RMB 1,218, namely 40 times that in 1949 on the basis of actual average annual growth by 5.5% in real terms.
China has realized 40 times increase of per capital disposal income of rural residents in 70 years. The heroic undertaking is a rare great achievement around the world.
Steady increase of income fattens pockets of rural residents, and makes them finally able to afford consumption and improve living standard. Relevant data show that in 2018, Chinese rural residents’ per capita consumption expenditure reached RMB 12,124, 32.7 times that in 1949 and meaning actual average annual growth of 5.2% in real terms.
Income increase makes farmer households well equipped with various modern home appliances and articles and improves their living standard greatly. Previously, the goals of rural residents were “multi-storey building, electric lamp and telephone”, and rural young people’s marriage was based on the preconditions of “watch, bike and sewing machine” and “refrigerator, color TV and washing machine”. Nowadays, the present cannot compare with the past in rural life. Rural residents boast stronger and stronger consuming power, and rural market is supported by richer array of products and services.
There are reasons of at lease two aspects for why rural residents’ income increase can serve as one of outstanding results of economic and social development for the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. On the one hand, rural residents’ income growth rate is world-striking, and such sustained, rapid and steady increase is rare in the world. On the other hand, China’s development in “agriculture, rural area and farmers” affects the people’s feeling, while farmers’ income increase reflects countryside full of vitality and prosperity and development of rural area.
China has a huge population, with farmers accounting for a high proportion and with very low level of per capital arable land area. Some developed countries doubted of whether China can support its people. However, the great achievements made by China in revitalizing rural area, agricultural development and farmers’ income increase since the founding of the People’s Republic of China have made a powerful counterattack upon any such doubts of developed countries.
Meanwhile, China has accumulated many valuable experiences in helping farmers increase income, cast off poverty and get rich, which are worthy of referring for developing countries. Farmers’ income increase has also demonstrated remarkable achievements of China in casting off poverty, and its pragmatic and effective experiences thereof have provided the world with China’s solution and made outstanding contributions to the anti-poverty undertaking around the world.
In view of the time period of farmers’ income increase, the first 40 years since the reform and opening-up witnessed the highest rate of income growth, which was closely related with the economic and income system reform, opening-up to the outside world and urbanization drive. Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, rural collective reform, industrial and agricultural prices scissors, control of registered permanent residency and flow of population have all made great contributions to national prosperity and strength at the price of rural residents’ efforts and substantial sacrifice. It can be said that farmers’ income increase is the results of overlapping of population dividend, reform dividend and opening-up dividend, and flow of population, abolition of agricultural tax and development of new countryside are key driving factors for rural residents’ income increase.
In view of the sources for rural residents’ income increase, working in cities as migrant workers is the top contributor to the income increase. With urbanization quickening continuously, cities at various tiers attract a lot of rural residents, and citizenization of migrant workers also drives rural change, agricultural transformation and farmers’ income increase. The great achievements made by the People’s Republic of China over the past 70 years since its founding are reflected in specific changes of every Chinese, while increase of rural residents’ income is an accurate picture of the achievements.
It is worth noting that, with quick increase of rural residents’ income, the income gap between urban area and rural area is narrowed to certain extent, but it is still an arduous task to heal social inequality between the two areas.
The Report reveals that the per capita disposal income of urban residents in 2018 was 2.69 times that of rural residents, only 0.64 down from that in 1956. Rural residents’ consumption growth rate is still lower than the income growth rate, indicating that they have many misgivings against their consumption. If the urban-rural income gap cannot be narrowed substantially, the foundation for sustainable agricultural development and the development of new countryside will not be firm, and the “stigmatization” of the status of farmer will be hard to be eradicated. Therefore, it is still unoptimistic to narrow the urban-rural income gap. We need to attach high importance to narrowing the gap by taking various measures, so as to make urban and rural residents able to enjoy the better life from the reform and opening-up.
While noting farmers’ income increase, we should also recognize that huge investment and great efforts are necessary to develop countryside. Rural residents’ consumption level is keeping up with the urban level, but rural infrastructure is far behind that in cities, and extravagance, traffic jam and rubbish-circled villages are shocking. In recent years, governments at various levels have made great efforts to drive toilet revolution and rural residence rectification, which are typical works to respond to such situations, and need further attentions and expansion in the future. Therefore, we should take the historic opportunity celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China and stay true to our founding mission to care about, support and help rural area, agriculture and farmers, and achieve the goal of comprehensive cast-off of poverty and better life for all our people.
(The author is a Research Fellow at the National Academy of Development and Strategy, and a Professor at the School of Public Administration and Policy, RUC )
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