The Contract Farming System and Rural Modernization Since 1979

China began its systematic reform of the People’s Commune system in the winter of 1978. In the process, the so-called production responsibility system was implemented across the nation. This at first assumed many forms, but eventually the system by which production targets were contracted out to rural households became prevalent. The new farming system covered 96.6 per cent of the nation’s farming households by the end of 1984, and only 0.2 per cent of the former production teams had failed to develop any form of production responsibility system.1