ABSTRACT
The political risks are commensurate with the economic stakes that the leaders assign to their new policy. The contractual farming agreements system is considered, by Chinese theoreticians, as sufficient to ensure the "cooperative" nature of Chinese agriculture and to integrate family activities into the global socialist economy. Chinese economists had estimated that, in 1978, unfavorable terms of trade caused a transfer out of the agricultural sector amounting to 25 to 35 billion yuan. When reporting on the application of the new agricultural policy many western observers rather curiously emphasized problems that arose rather than the economic benefits obtained. The ultimate capacity for development and diversification of the rural economy, particularly as concerns non-agricultural undertakings, should not be underestimated. Family level farm management henceforth appears best suited to the specific characteristics of agricultural production with its need for very flexible adjustments, for rapid decisions concerning living beings subject to unpredictable natural constraints.
