ABSTRACT
China's post-1978 rural economic reforms have led to the market playing a more and more important role in production and in people's lives. This chapter outlines the extraordinary progress in China's rural economy after 1978 in relation to farm output, farm productivity, the non-farm sector, living standards and the decline in poverty. The gross value of farm output at 'comparable' prices reportedly increased its compound annual average growth rate from 2.8 per cent from 1955—5 to 1975—7, to no less than 8.4 per cent from 1975—7 to 1983—5. It is openly admitted in China that there were difficulties in obtaining accurate comparable figures for the rural economy pre- and post-1978. Some Western analysts expressed the fear that de-collectivization would lead to a collapse of rural capital formation in Chinese agriculture. Impressive as the growth of farm output was, growth of the non-farm rural economy was even more dramatic.
