@article{Fanfani:100511,
      recid = {100511},
      author = {Fanfani, Roberto},
      title = {Economic Development, Rural Zones and Farms in China},
      address = {2010-10},
      number = {1018-2016-81661},
      pages = {20},
      year = {2010},
      abstract = {Because of the growing influence of China, the rapid  economic development and the
transformation of Chinese  society have attracted the attention of analysts,  politicians and
mass media. There are, however, many  aspects of these changes that are less well known.
This is  not only because of the sheer size of China ‐ with a  population of more than 1.3 billion
– but also because of  the lack of information on the enormously large and varied  rural areas,
where still now more than 55% of the Chinese  population lives.
The great reform of the Chinese economy  began 30 years ago in 1978. The basic change  was
liberalization of foreign trade, the so‐called “Open  Door Policy”. This involved a deep reform
of the economy  and in particular of agriculture, which entailed the  dismantling of the
collectives and the establishment of a  family‐based farming structure, the so‐called
“Household  Responsibility System”. The rapid development of the  Chinese economy in recent
decades is the result of the  combined effect of these reforms. However the role that  reforms
in agriculture and rural areas have played in this  transformation have often been overlooked,
and in  particular the effect of reliable food supplies on a  continually growing population, such
as the Chinese one.  The great reduction in hunger and malnutrition, which in  the past
affected millions of Chinese citizens, has had a  decisive impact on the reduction of poverty,
thus  increasing the social stability of the whole country.},
      url = {http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/100511},
      doi = {https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.100511},
}