Rural Development in Chongqing

Abstract

The “every peasant household’s income to grow by 10,000 yuan” project in Chongqing’s “two wings” region is an important movement implemented by the Chongqing government to spur development in the rural areas of Chongqing’s poorest region. The project has two key components at the policy level. The first is to promote agricultural “industry-ization” 产业化 and to construct corresponding chains of production, processing, and sales in the two wings, thus forming the basis of growth in peasants’ income. The second is the emphasis on people’s livelihood, which is based on the ambition of accomplishing “balanced income growth” or “income growth for every household.” The project includes both “drawing in business and investment” 招商引资 and “industry planning” 产业规划 as well as “cadres to go into peasant households and support them directly” 入户帮扶. Some of the practices of Chongqing cadres in supporting peasants show that the government can improve the microeconomic environment for peasant households and enhance the vitality of their small farms. This article first analyzes the policies and practices of agricultural industry-ization in the income growth project and the efforts of the Chongqing government to achieve “income growth for every household.” The theoretical implications of the project, including the role of government in economic development and the vitality of small farming in China, are then discussed through dialogue with social science theories.