China adopted marxist leninist policies of reform in

China adopted Marxist-Leninist policies of reform in economic development, believing
in collective ownership over the means of production
● Economic modernization would move rural China beyond small family farming
● Timeline of agricultural movements :
○ 1950-1952, land redistribution - land possession shifted to village peasants
○ 1952-1955, primary cooperatives - pooling resources under unified management
○ 1956-1957, advanced cooperatives - abolished rents for land shares and capital
○ 1958-1962, communes (Great Leap Forward) - eliminated private markets
○ 1966-1976, Cultural Revolution
○ 1978, household responsibility system
● Mutual aid teams formed in supporting land ownership, outputs, and means of production
● Primary cooperatives paid work from individual contributions to land and labor assets
● Payment for advanced cooperatives was based on ‘work points’ regarding performance
● Collectivization moved China beyond small family farming, while still maintaining the
support of the peasantry
● Great Leap Forward : economic and social campaign in the late 1950s that aimed to
rapidly transform Chinese landscape into modern, communist society
● Actions of the Great Leap Forward aimed to parallel western industrialization production

● People’s communes combined advanced co-ops and transferred production to a 60% ‘free
supply’ and 40% labor output system
● Low productivity, caused by poor management and exaggerating output levels, caused a
great famine and severe death consequences to populations
● Retreat against communes :
○ Raising price and decreasing quotas for grain procurement
○ Cutting prices of farm machinery
○ Sending youth to villages for skills training
○ Encouraging smaller-scale enterprises
Week 4: Hukou System and its Impact on Rural Life
● Between 1958 and 1978, internal migration was strictly forbidden
● Hukou system : An internal passport used for household registration, tracking details of
citizens and population information; must register in-region for government services
● Rationale behind Hukou :
○ Stability and order
○ Farmers filtering produce for urban residences
○ Agriculture segue into industrialization
● Urban development created spillover effects on rural areas, including heavy burdens on
production through the 20th century
● Tremendous income gaps exist between urban and rural regions, where the former is
considered superior in residency
● 31 of 34 provinces have cancelled the division of urban and rural areas under the Hukou
system, creating a unified household registration
● Rural migrant worker conditions :
○ Missing social security
○ Unprotected labor rights
○ Leaving family behind
Week 5: China under Reform
● The start of the reform era shifted away from leftist philosophy and Cultural Revolution
policies set under Mao
● Necessary institutions were in place (local, risk-sharing co-ops, etc.)
● Economic growth was prioritized, using a outward-looking and experimental approach
● Policy developments in reform era:
○ Shift from agricultural collectives to household farms
○ Expansion of township and village enterprises (TVEs) from economic zones
○ Increased autonomy of state-owned enterprises (SOEs)