The reforms of the last 25 years have made China an increasingly urbanised soci-
ety, and the process of urbanisation will accelerate in the coming years. For the
time being, however, China remains a predominantly rural society. Some 745
million people – 57 percent of the total population – are officially registered as
rural. Two-thirds of total employment takes place in the countryside, and agri-
culture alone still accounts for almost 45 percent of all jobs. These are formid-
able numbers. No assessment of China’s future economic and social development
can fail to take close account of the challenges posed by this “rural bias” and its
implications for government economic and social policies.
Much recent analysis has rightly highlighted the potentially acute threat to
China’s future development posed by increasingly serious pressure on resources
(especially water, land and energy). Such pressures, as well as those associated
with widening inter-regional and inter-sectoral economic and welfare gaps, have
in recent years pushed the Chinese government toward a major strategic initiative
grounded in the imperative of achieving a more sustainable pattern of economic
and social development. It is still too early to assess the impact of this new strat-
egy. It is, however, clear that against the background of urban unemployment
pressures and even greater problems caused by the massive overhang of rural
under-employment, sustainability in the Chinese context cannot succeed unless
it effectively addresses these and associated issues. From this perspective, the
recent shift toward a more “harmonious” and “people-centered” development
trajectory merely underlines the importance of facilitating a steady increase in
employment in both urban and rural China.
Next few articles investigate the major challenge that faces the Chinese govern-
ment in its efforts to accommodate employment pressures within the rural sec-
tor.
