ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book reviews the key policy issues which influenced the historical development of the agricultural economy, especially the grain economy. It provides a theoretical framework of China’s grain supply and demand under the basic policy restrictions by using both graphical and mathematical analysis. The book analyses empirically the underlying mechanism of grain supply response in China. It examines the quantitative significance of the impact of the government’s policies, of subsistence farming, and other factors affecting grain supply defined in the theoretical model. The book considers the prospects for the future development of China’s grain economy to the beginning of the next century. It summarises the main conclusions of the study and makes further discussion on two important issues, namely the unfinished business of land reforms and the impact of rural industrialisation on the sustainability of agriculture.
