Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Heather Zhang Author-X-Name-First: Heather Author-X-Name-Last: Zhang Author-Email: eashz@leeds.ac.uk Title:Guest Editor’s Preface Abstract:Introduction to the Featured Topic "Transforming Rural China: Beyond the Urban Bias?", Journal of Current Chinese Affairs, 38, 4 (2009). Pages: 3-7 Creation-Date:2010-01 File-URL: http://hup.sub.uni-hamburg.de/giga/jcca/article/view/115/115 File-Format: Application/pdf Keywords: n/a Volume: 38 Issue: 4 Year: 2009 Handle: RePEc:gig:chaktu:v:38:y:2009:i:4:p:3-7 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Stig Thøgersen Author-X-Name-First: Stig Author-X-Name-Last: Thøgersen Author-Email: stig.thogersen@hum.au.dk Title:Revisiting a Dramatic Triangle: The State, Villagers, and Social Activists in Chinese Rural Reconstruction Projects Abstract:As part of the movement to “construct a new socialist countryside”, Chinese officials and social activists are experimenting with transforming rural social and economic relations. They often draw on discourses dating back to the Rural Reconstruction Movement of the 1920s and 1930s, which saw urban intellectuals making similar efforts to modernize the villages and their inhabitants. This paper analyses the different types of relationships between the state, social activists, and villagers in a number of rural reconstruction projects. The state is still the major player in this field, but traditional top-down procedures are often perceived to be unproductive when it comes to micro-level community building, so state actors are forced to find allies among village elites and social activists. Pages: 9-33 Creation-Date:2010-01 File-URL: http://hup.sub.uni-hamburg.de/giga/jcca/article/view/116/116 File-Format: Application/pdf Keywords: China; rural development; agriculture policy; agricultural reforms Volume: 38 Issue: 4 Year: 2009 Handle: RePEc:gig:chaktu:v:38:y:2009:i:4:p:9-33 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Anna Ahlers Author-X-Name-First: Anna Author-X-Name-Last: Ahlers Author-Email: anna.ahlers@uni-tuebingen.de Author-Name: Gunter Schubert Author-X-Name-First: Gunter Author-X-Name-Last: Schubert Author-Email: gunter.schubert@uni-tuebingen.de Title:“Building a New Socialist Countryside” – Only a Political Slogan? Abstract:In March 2006, China’s National People’s Congress officially promulgated the central government’s intention to “build a new socialist countryside”, a new policy initiative and approach to rural development. Drawing on fieldwork conducted in two Chinese counties in 2008 and 2009, this article investigates how the new policy is being substantiated and implemented at the local level. It argues that by combining China’s new fiscal system of transfer payments to poor local governments with administrative reforms, intensified internal project evaluation, and efforts to increase the rural income through a mixture of infrastructural investment, agricultural specialization, the expansion of social welfare, and accelerated urbanization, “building a new socialist countryside” constitutes more than a political slogan and has the potential to successfully overcome rural poverty and the rural-urban divide. Pages: 35-62 Creation-Date:2010-01 File-URL: http://hup.sub.uni-hamburg.de/giga/jcca/article/view/117/117 File-Format: Application/pdf Keywords: China; rural development; agricultural reforms; structural economic policy Volume: 38 Issue: 4 Year: 2009 Handle: RePEc:gig:chaktu:v:38:y:2009:i:4:p:35-62 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Norman Long Author-X-Name-First: Norman Author-X-Name-Last: Long Author-Email: norman.long@live.co.uk Author-Name: Jinlong Liu Author-X-Name-First: Jinlong Author-X-Name-Last: Liu Author-Email: liujinlong@ruc.edu.cn Title:The Centrality of Actors and Interfaces in the Understanding of New Ruralities: A Chinese Case Study Abstract:This paper aims to demonstrate the advantages of adopting an ethnographic, actor interface approach to understanding the ongoing dynamics of rural development and policy intervention processes. It does so through the discussion of an EU-funded project orientated to introducing village-level forest-management practices in north-west China. The case highlights the ongoing everyday struggles over livelihoods and resources and focuses on the negotiations that take place between the various social actors involved. The case analysis is preceded by a broad-sweep overview of the rise of new ruralities and a discussion of the key elements of an actor interface analysis. The article concludes with a call for more cross-country and cross-regional studies of this kind. Pages: 63-84 Creation-Date:2010-01 File-URL: http://hup.sub.uni-hamburg.de/giga/jcca/article/view/118/118 File-Format: Application/pdf Keywords: China; rural development; municipal/local policy; Volume: 38 Issue: 4 Year: 2009 Handle: RePEc:gig:chaktu:v:38:y:2009:i:4:p:63-84 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Andrew Watson Author-X-Name-First: Andrew Author-X-Name-Last: Watson Author-Email: andrew.j.watson@adelaide.edu.au Title:Social Security for China’s Migrant Workers – Providing for Old Age Abstract:The concept of “migrant workers” derives from the household registration system of China’s planned economy period. The continued existence of that system conflicts with the development of an integrated labour market. The current social security system, based on household registration and a large number of local pools, discriminates against migrant workers because of their mobility and the lack of mechanisms to transfer benefits between pools. As a result, migrants have made major contributions to China’s economic development but do not get the same benefits as urban residents. Faced with this challenge, China’s government has begun to introduce policy reforms to improve social security for migrants. This article explores this development through a focus on old-age insurance. It analyses the special needs of migrants, the obstacles facing policy development and the proposed solutions. It argues that social justice and social equity require the development of a system that treats all citizens equally, and that the logic of an integrated labour market will ultimately require a unified national system of old-age insurance. Pages: 85-115 Creation-Date:2010-01 File-URL: http://hup.sub.uni-hamburg.de/giga/jcca/article/view/119/119 File-Format: Application/pdf Keywords: China; migrant workers; social security Volume: 38 Issue: 4 Year: 2009 Handle: RePEc:gig:chaktu:v:38:y:2009:i:4:p:85-115 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Xingqing Ye Author-X-Name-First: Xingqing Author-X-Name-Last: Ye Author-Email: yxqgysh@sina.com Title:China’s Urban-Rural Integration Policies Abstract:
The analysis presented here is based on the keynote speech discussing the most recent developments in rural policy on urban-rural integration in China delivered in Chinese by Professor Ye Xingqing at the Ninth European Conference on Agriculture and Rural Development in China (ECARDC9) held at the University of Leeds in the UK on 3-5 April 2009. Professor Ye’s paper provides a comprehensive overview of the main initiatives, their rationale and their context, including some of the debates surrounding them. Professor Ye, who is an invited keynote speaker of ECARDC9 and the director-general of the Department for Rural Economy, Research Office of the State Council, People’s Republic of China, has been personally involved in the process of formulating these policy initiatives.
Translated from Chinese by Prof. Flemming Christiansen, professor in Chinese Studies, Department of East Asian Studies, University of Leeds and also Director of National Institute of Chinese Studies, White Rose East Asia Centre, United Kingdom.
Pages: 117-143 Creation-Date:2010-01 File-URL: http://hup.sub.uni-hamburg.de/giga/jcca/article/view/120/120 File-Format: Application/pdf Keywords: China; rural development; politics/policy; rural-urban relationships; regional development/planning Volume: 38 Issue: 4 Year: 2009 Handle: RePEc:gig:chaktu:v:38:y:2009:i:4:p:117-143 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: John Tian Author-X-Name-First: John Author-X-Name-Last: Tian Author-Email: john.tian@conncoll.edu Title:Reorganizing Rural Public Finance: Reforms and Consequences Abstract:This article examines recent reforms to restructure rural public finance in China and their impact on local-government finance. The focus is on how fiscal income and financial expenditure are managed by local-level governments, particularly at the county and township levels, and how rural public and social services are financed. The article also looks at the development of intergovernmental transfers, ongoing administrative reform, more recent initiatives to extend public finance to cover rural residents as part of the comprehensive rural reform, and a new campaign to build a new socialist rural China. Pages: 145-171 Creation-Date:2010-01 File-URL: http://hup.sub.uni-hamburg.de/giga/jcca/article/view/121/121 File-Format: Application/pdf Keywords: China; costs/expenditure; finance; Volume: 38 Issue: 4 Year: 2009 Handle: RePEc:gig:chaktu:v:38:y:2009:i:4:p:145-171