ABSTRACT
In China's transition from a planned to a market economy, history has naturally left a large imprint, especially as the transition is being made in increments. This chapter maps out the macro reforms that have been introduced to China's rural sector from the perspective of the cattle and beef industry. Market, household, enterprise and administrative structures have changed in different ways and to different degrees over the last two decades. It outlines the policy/institutional issues, but only in context to the reform process. Marketing has undergone the most change. Although the State remains relevant to cattle and beef marketing - particularly in relation to the extremely small but lucrative foreign trade sector - the market has been notionally "free and open" for nearly two decades now. The Household Production Responsibility System (HPRS) that ushered in China's economic reform program has been in place for even longer, has changed little since it was first introduced and is well understood.
