Development of rural industries and transformation of China's rural economy

Abstract

The paper examines the contributions of rural industries in the process of modernizing transformation of the Chinese rural economy. Rural industries in China experienced phenomenal growth, ranging between 20-25% in the post-reform period and played a crucially important role in absorbing surplus rural labour, raising employment and income status of rural households and in facilitating the development of a modern industrial base in rural townships. The economic dynamism displayed by rural industries in China has been a consequence of the encouragement provided by the government to the development of market economy and private enterprise system in the post-reform years. The Chinese experience of rural industrial development seems instructive for the agriculture dominated developing Asian countries which are grappling with problems of surplus labour absorption, raising income and living standards of the rural poor, and keeping rural-urban migration within reasonable limits. -Author