“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.

Betting on the strong: Local government resource allocation in China's poverty counties

“…The findings of this study are consistent with other studies in rural China that have demonstrated that county officials dominate the implementation process of rural development initiatives, that they have clear ideas about which villages to select, and that focal or model villages (the main destination for higher-level government inspection teams) receive the largest portion of NCS funds passed down to the county (Ahlers and Schubert, 2009;Schubert and Ahlers, 2012). This reflects a broader notion in China that model villages will lead rural development, also described as "showcasing" (Smith, 2009;Ahlers and Schubert, 2013).…”

“…They encompass two broad priorities: improving living conditions (including poverty alleviation) and advanced production (supporting agricultural modernisation and specialisation). NSC-related funding is channelled through the fiscal transfer system and is available to all counties, not just poverty counties (Ahlers and Schubert, 2009).…”

“…This reflects a broader notion in China that model villages will lead rural development, also described as "showcasing" (Smith, 2009;Ahlers and Schubert, 2013). The problem with this approach is that it is unclear how model villages are supposed to be emulated by others (Ahlers and Schubert, 2009), particularly by those that are not advantaged in terms of access to good natural resources, a strong economy, good physical capital or guanxi (personal networks) with local officials. Further research will be needed to determine whether this focus on model villages to the detriment of other villages will continue under new rural initiatives such as Anhui's "Beautiful Countryside" (meihao xiangcun 美好乡村) program (Central Government Portal, 2012), and whether any major changes to the structures that promote this kind of behaviour will occur under the Xi Jinping administration.…”

‘Constructing a New Socialist Countryside’ and Beyond: An Analytical Framework for Studying Policy Implementation and Political Stability in Contemporary China

“…The evolution of China's so-called "socialist market economy" is taking place within an authoritarian order which seems to be unchallenged by the great majority of the Chinese people. 1 Why is this so? Does modernization theory not apply to China?…”

“…34 33 Interview with the head of the Reform and Development Bureau, September 13, 2009. 32 For a detailed description of local XNCJS policy formulation, implementation and, in particular, XNCJS project application procedure and funding, see for example, Ahlers and Schubert [1]; Li [43]; Su [77]. 34 As the director of Qingyuan's Reform and Development Bureau (fagaiju) explained, investments in the development of the countryside (zhinong) have increased to almost 90% of the county budget in 2009 (Interview on September 13, 2009).…”