By Guo Jianjun

Research Report No 202, 2006

The national economy and social developmentin China have made great progress since reform and opening up, with the constant enhancement of its economic strength. In particular, the construction of public infrastructure has been quickened since a proactive fiscal policy was introduced. But as the social and fiscal resources are allocated mainly in favor of industries and urban areas, the urban-rural and inter-regional economic disparities have been widened further and the dual structure in urban and rural economyhas become more tangible. The lack of public goods resources in the rural areas and the lagging behind of the construction of rural public services have become prominent problems affecting China’s social and economic development. For this reason, speeding up new countryside construction, promoting change in government functions, shifting government’s public service resources and functions to the rural areas and striving for coordinated urban-rural development are of utmost, immediate and far-reaching significances to solve the issues regarding agriculture, countryside and peasants and to realize the historic mission of building a well-off society in an all-round way.

I. The Present State and Problems of Rural Infrastructure and Public Service Supply

Since the beginning of the 10thFive-Year Plan, the state has continuously increased inputs for rural infrastructure construction and has made considerable achievements in this respect. But due to the longstanding problems, there has been no major improvement in the outdated rural infrastructure. If compared with the ever-changing urban infrastructure, the gap has become increasingly wider.

1.The infrastructure for agricultural production remains weak

First, the construction of farmland and irrigation facilities is seriously lagging behind. In 2003, the cultivated land nationwide totaled 1.95 billion mu, of which only 838 million mu or 43 percent was irrigated land. Even the 838 million mu of irrigated land was also noted for low-standard irrigation facilities, poor supporting facilities and outdated irrigation methods. In particular, the pumping-irrigated acreage was less than 30 percent. Second, the acreage of cultivated land has been shrinking year after year, the quality of cultivated land has been deteriorating, and soil erosion and desertification have become more serious. Only 35 percent of the total cultivated land nationwide can produce high and stable yields, and the remaining 65 percent can only give low and average yields due to drought, sloping, impoverishment, flood, salinization, alkalization and other constraints. Soil erosion affects nearly 37 percent of the national territory or 3.56 million square kilometers. Over the past 50 years or so, soil erosion destroyed more than 40 million mu of cultivated land, or nearly 1 million mu each year. Meanwhile, grassland resources have been damaged for years. The acreage of the grassland suffering degeneration, desertification and alkalization has reached 135 million hectares, or one-third of the total grassland acreage. Third, the technological support for agriculture has been insufficient and the technological equipment has been poor. The contribution of technological advance to agriculture is only 40 percent, far lower than the average level of 70-80 percent in developed countries. Currently, the ratios of mechanical ploughing, sowing and harvesting nationwide are respectively 50.7 percent, 31.2 percent and 22.7 percent. In particular, the ratios of mechanically harvesting for rice and corn, the two main grain varieties, are respectively only 10 percent and 5 percent. As the system for technology popularization is not complete, the funding is insufficient and the technical force is not stable, the results of agricultural research are difficult to reach the peasant households. Fourth, the system for plant and animal epidemic prevention is unsound. Currently, the grass-roots epidemic prevention forces are very weak: some infrastructure facilities are outdated, the sub-stations are shabby and poor-equipped, and a considerable number of township veterinary stations do not have the necessary instruments, equipment and means of transportation. As a result, epidemic prevention remains at the level of sensual inspection and is unable to discover and handle animal epidemics in a timely manner.

2.The living conditions of the peasants are poor

First, the problem of drinking water is yet to be solved. The information from relevant departments indicates that only 14 percent of the villages nationwide have water plants or water-supply facilities. Measured by the drinking-water security indicators such as quality, quantity, convenience and supply guarantee, more than 300 million rural people across the country have not reached these standards. 80 percent of such people live in the central and western regions. In terms of quality, 220 million rural people have not reached the standards. In particular, more than 50 million people are drinking the water whose fluorine and arsenic contents exceed the national hygienic standards for domestic and drinking water; nearly 40 million are drinking bitter and salty water; 130 million people are drinking the water whose microorganism contents are far higher than the standards due to pollution and natural causes. In addition, more than 90 million people have difficulty in drinking-water supply due to seasonal droughts. Second, the transportation difficulty of the peasants has not been fully solved. Data indicate that the rural areas account for 88.5 percent of the country’s 1.043 million kilometers of gravel roads, dirt roads and unpaved roads. Of the 37,000 rural townships and 650,000 administrative villages nationwide, nearly 100 townships and 40,000 villages have no access to public roads and nearly 10,000 townships and over 300,000 villages are not connected with bituminous or cement roads. 70 percent of the rural roads are gravel roads. Many places have no roads or bridges. In addition, the power facilities in the vast rural areas and especially those in the central and western regions are outdated. Nationwide, 20 million rural people still have no access to electricity, and a considerable part of the rural areas still cannot enjoy the same power grids and same power prices as the urban areas do.

3.The construction of rural social undertaking is clearly lagging behind and it has become a "short leg"

First, the rural primary and secondary schools are noted for poor facilities and equipment. Currently, rural primary and secondary schools have 36.7 million square meters, or 6.6 percent of the rural total and 81 percent of the shabby houses nationwide, being in a deplorable state. Second, the rural health facilities are backward. In 2002, there were 45,000 township hospitals with 670,000 beds and 699,000 village clinics. There were respectively 6,805, 62,000 and 105,000 less than in 1995. In the rural areas, the number of hospital beds for per thousand persons was 0.79, only 32.9 percent of the urban level. Investigations indicate that the township hospitals in the central and western regions have 33 percent of their houses in a shabby state and 80 percent of the township hospitals need to install or update their X-ray and other conventional equipment. Third, the public cultural facilities in the rural areas are inadequate. By July 2004, out of the country’s 38,240 townships, 23,678 needed to build or renovate their cultural stations and more than 23,000 townships had no cultural stations or had cultural stations with poor facilities and narrow space. Many county libraries and cultural centers and township cultural stations are noted for narrow space, disrepair, outdated facilities, and lack of instruments and equipment.

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