The Three Rural Issues, or San Nong ({{zh, s=三农, t=三農, p=sān nóng), are three issues relating to
rural development in
mainland China
"Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...
:
agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
,
rural area
In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are descri ...
s and
farmer
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer mig ...
s. The name "Three Rural Issues" was first coined by economist Wen Tiejun in 1996, and were highlighted by
CCP general secretary
The general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party () is the Party leader, head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Since 1989, the CCP general secr ...
Hu Jintao
Hu Jintao (born 21 December 1942) is a Chinese politician who served as the 16–17th general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 2002 to 2012, the 6th president of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from 2003 to 2013, an ...
and
Chinese premier Wen Jiabao
Wen Jiabao (born 15 September 1942) is a retired Chinese politician who served as the Premier of the State Council from 2003 to 2013. In his capacity as head of government, Wen was regarded as the leading figure behind China's economic policy ...
as areas of rural development in China that need work.
At the
2006 National People's Congress, the Three Rural Issues were especially emphasized throughout Wen Jiabao's speech on the workings of the government in 2005 and the direction of the government for the year 2006. In the rural areas, agricultural reforms had made the peasants better-off until the 1990s when land supply became insufficient and the cost of the means of production was soaring. As a result, the income of the peasants was greatly reduced. Today, the "three problem of peasantry, rural areas and agriculture" are still a major concern of the government.
Content
*Agricultural issues:The main problem is agricultural production and operation, specifically how to achieve agricultural industrialization. This is mainly due to the low degree of marketability of agricultural production and operation and the high volatility of agricultural prices; the fact that agricultural production mainly relies on small-scale farmers, making it difficult to obtain
economies of scale
In microeconomics, economies of scale are the cost advantages that enterprises obtain due to their scale of operation, and are typically measured by the amount of output produced per unit of time. A decrease in cost per unit of output enables ...
; and the fact that the issue of food security has never been neglected.
*Rural issues:It is concentrated in the urban-rural dichotomy caused by the household registration system, with a large difference in economic and cultural levels between urban and rural areas. The image is likened to China's
City
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
like
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
,The countryside is like
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
.
*Farmers' issues:The main problems are the low income of farmers, the large gap between urban and rural incomes, the low overall cultural quality of farmers and the lack of protection of farmers'
Rights
Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical the ...
, etc.
"The countryside is the cradle of the Chinese nation, agriculture is the foundation of the national economy, and farmers are our bread and butter. If we lose these three, we will also lose the foundation of our nation".
Agriculture
In general, the issue is how to industrialize agriculture in China.
It includes:
* increasing the marketization level of agricultural production and operation, and stabilizing the prices of agricultural products
* changing the situation of
smallholder economic agriculture, achieving
economies of scale
In microeconomics, economies of scale are the cost advantages that enterprises obtain due to their scale of operation, and are typically measured by the amount of output produced per unit of time. A decrease in cost per unit of output enables ...
of agricultural production and operation
* guaranteeing the food security in China.
Rural areas
This is particularly reflected in the disparity of economic and cultural development between urban and rural areas. It is mainly caused by the dual segmentation based on the household registration system.
Farmers
It includes improving the income level of farmers, alleviating burdens of farmers, increasing the cultural qualities of farmers, and safeguarding the rights of farmers.
See also
*
2006 National People's Congress
*
Economy of China
The China, People's Republic of China has an upper middle income Developing country, developing Mixed economy, mixed socialist market economy that incorporates economic planning through Industrial policy, industrial policies and strategic Five- ...
*
Agriculture in China
External links
Expectations and challenges for China's economy next year article dated December 6, 2004, a
People's Daily Onlinea
CRIENGLISH.comChina to tackle rural problemsa
BBC NEWS
三农直通车(中国科技部十二五规划项目)中国农村村民自治信息网(民政部基层政权和社区建设司主办)
Economic development in China
Rural development in China