The Use of Chinese Rural Labour Resources and its Impact on the Rural Environment

Abstract

China is very rich in labour resources but for various reasons, outlined in this article, most of the labour power is still based in the rural areas. Before 1978 the employment of labour and distribution of production in the system of People's Communes was regulated from the centre, which led to peasants making inefficient use of their time and the results of their labour. This resulted in minimal peasant initiative, slow agricultural development, low peasant incomes and quality of life, and damage to the rural environment. The 1978 reforms of the rural economic system granted peasants' greater autonomy in making decisions in the sphere of agricultural and non-agricultural production. These reforms led to an enhancement of peasant initiative and agricultural production as well as the development of township enterprises. Improvements in peasants' income, their quality of life and the rural ecology were the result. While progress in the rural environment is acknowledged, the article argues that the issue of surplus labour in the countryside has yet to be tackled. It is estimated that, by the year 2000, job placements will have to be found for approximately 150 million agricultural labourers. This is seen to be one of the greatest challenges facing rural development in China.