Economy >Domestic Economy
Building a New Socialist Countryside
Building a new socialist countryside refers to the economic, political, cultural and social development in rural areas as required in the new period of the socialist system and to achieve the goal of building a new socialist countryside featuring a prosperous economy, improved facilities, pleasant environment, cultural prosperity, and harmony. This is a major decision made by the Central Government at a crucial time in building well-off society, when China’s overall economy has also entered a new period featuring agricultural development promoted by industrial development and rural development led by urban development, and in the new situation where the idea of putting people first and harmonious society construction has gained popularity.
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New Socialist Countryside - What Does It Mean?

Zhou Xiaozheng (professor with Renmin University of China): The key to building a new socialist countryside is to mobilize farmers to make them more active, creative and more disposed to use their own initiative. This will ensure a better future for them. To a certain degree, the success of building a new socialist countryside depends a lot on the quality of farmers, technical capability and ideological standards. Therefore, farmers' knowledge and the technology they have access to are a basis for building a new socialist countryside. The priority, therefore, must be laid on helping farmers acquire knowledge and modern agricultural technologies. Xiong Qinghua (Secretary of the CPC Baoshan City Committee, Yunnan Province): The priority in building a new socialist countryside is to foster modern concepts, such as competition and cost, among farmers. The influence of modern concepts is much stronger than that of capital and material input. This is the foundation for lasting prosperity in the countryside.

Building new socialist countryside urgent task

BEIJING, Feb. 22 (Xinhuanet) -- "Building a new socialist countryside" is not only a long-term goal but also an urgent task of China, said Chen Xiwen, deputy director of the Office of Central Financial Work Leading Group on Wednesday. Addressing a press conference held at the State Council Information Office, Chen said that the primary reason for the reintroduction of the notion is that China's economic and social development have entered a new historical period. The government is now more economically competent to render support to the development of agriculture and rural areas and to coordinate the economic and social development between urban and rural areas, he said. According to Chen, there are at least five reasons for putting forward the concept of "building a new socialist countryside".

China's Congress Opens With Agenda to Fix Rural Problems, Raise Military Spending

Premier Wen on Sunday said "building a new socialist countryside" is a major historic task for the Communist leadership, referring to the government's general plan to help raise hundreds of millions of peasants out of poverty, in part by reducing taxes, and encouraging migration to cities. Politics Professor Joseph Cheng, at the City University of Hong Kong, says that for the overall plan to work, China's government must tackle the problem of corruption. He says fixing this requires a system of checks and balances that is hard to maintain in a one-party system. "The gap between the rich coastal provinces and the poor interior provinces is still widening and certainly, we cannot expect corruption to be weeded out in the foreseeable future. This of course has to do with a lack of political reform," he said.

Knowledge Graph
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1 It is dedicated to promoting harmonized development of industrialization, IT application, urbanization and agricultural modernization, building a new socialist countryside, taking a new path of industrialization with Chinese characteristics, and making China an innovative country.

2 Several years ago, the central government of China mapped out a strategy on "building a new socialist countryside" to narrow the gap between rural and urban development.

3 3.They will visit the countryside in Guizhou to see how Chinese farmers are building a new socialist countryside. In Jiangsu, they will visit a hi-tech economic zone. They will hold meetings with local media in Jiangsu and Shanghai.