To pursue a new type of urbanization with Chinese characteristics, we should coordinate the development of urban and rural areas by dealing with issues concerning "agriculture, rural areas and farmers" with new-type urbanization supported by agricultural modernization. Whether a well-off society can be accomplished largely depends on the "fellow-villager". While we are paying close attention to urbanization, the development of agriculture and rural areas can never be ignored, nor should it be given up.

Promoting the development of urban and rural areas

Developing a unified, open, competitive and orderly market system, where the market plays a decisive role in allocation of resources between urban and rural areas, will provide an important impetus to the integration of urban and rural development. After years of reform, integration of markets between urban and rural areas has reached a relatively high level, and the aim of the free flow and equal exchange of industrial and agricultural products has been achieved, injecting vigor into agricultural production and the rise of farmers’ income. However, it is evident that a reform of the factor market in China lags; especially the integration of the factor market between urban and rural areas is relatively low, resulting in huge loss of rural benefits and inefficiency in resource allocation.

Protection of farmers'rights and interests should be regarded as the top priority to advance the integration of the urban and rural development. We should guarantee that migrant workers get equal pay for equal work, farmers share fair land value-added income and that deposits of financial institutions in rural areas are mainly used for agriculture and rural areas.

We should establish a unified urban and rural human resources market and eliminate employment discrimination. We should establish a unified construction land market between urban and rural areas and explore specific ways to transfer, lease and buy a share of construction land for rural collective management, complying with the requirements of land planning and use control.

On the basis of narrowing the scope of land requisition and improving the procedures for land acquisition, emphasis should be paid to expropriated land price formation methods to establish a land value-added income distribution mechanism, taking national, collective and individual benefits into account. The development of a rural financial market system characterized by competition, reasonable prices, convenient service and common benefit for "agriculture, rural areas and farmer" should be sped up, covering village banks in counties and cities. We support the small and medium county banks and finance leasing companies that are designed for serving "agriculture, rural areas and farmers" initiated with social capital and vigorously develop new rural cooperative financial organizations with technology and capital diverted from urban to rural areas.

Advancing the integration of urban and rural planning, infrastructure and public service

While promoting an integrated urban and rural development, we should pay particular attention to the relation between the market and government: on the one hand, the market plays a decisive role in resource allocation between urban and rural areas; on the other hand, the functions of government should eliminate barriers between urban and rural systems, establish urban and rural planning, construct urban and rural infrastructure and offer public service covering urban and rural areas.

First, we will cover various types of urban and rural planning at all levels. We should take urban and rural areas as a whole and promote integration of the greening and beautification of urban and rural areas.

Second, we will promote interconnection of urban and rural infrastructure. Road construction in rural areas should be accelerated, followed by the improvement of maintenance and security management. The implementation of a new round of rural power grid upgrading project and the acceleration of infrastructure construction of rural Internet will advance the access of information to rural households.

Third, we will make fundamental public services equal in both urban and rural areas. We should integrate the basic pension insurance system and basic medical insurance system and promote a balanced and coordinated subsistence guarantee system between urban and rural areas. We should standardize the urban and rural public service system for employment and entrepreneurship, build a financial system in favor of a balanced configuration of financial resources between urban and rural areas and gradually improve security of basic financial resources at the county level.

Accelerating agricultural modernization

With smooth progress in industrialization, communication and urbanization, agricultural modernization must be promoted simultaneously, and agricultural production capacity should continue to be improved.

On the basis of constructing a new type of agricultural operating system by resolving the question of "how to farm"; on the basis of the transformation of agricultural development dictated by environmental constraints such as the shortage of water and land; on the basis of vigorous development of high-quality agricultural products dictated by the principle of health and safety, we should strive to take on a new path of agricultural modernization with Chinese characteristics featuring advanced technology, moderate scale, strong market competitiveness and sustainability.

We should take the guarantee of national food safety and effective supplying of agricultural products as the top priority of modern agriculture, and pose an unwavering attitude toward protecting the red line of arable land. Long-term sustainable development of agriculture should be established to promote an eco-friendly agricultural development. We should improve innovation in agricultural science and technology and popularize advanced agricultural techniques in accordance with local conditions. Improvement in subsidies for agricultural machinery, development of agricultural machinery cooperatives and service organizations for large professional agricultural machinery all contribute to a gradual improvement in overall cultivation and harvest of the crops. Establishment of land management and circulating market should be accelerated. Professional farms of large scale, family farms and other forms of scale management should be developed through awards and subsidy measures in order to encourage qualified farmers to transfer land contracts and operation rights.

Building a new socialist countryside

With urbanization, more people are moving from rural areas to cities and towns. However, we have to clearly recognize that although urbanization will reach 70 percent in the future, there will still be almost 500 million residents left in rural areas.

We should strengthen village planning and construction management and try every possible means to improve people's living conditions on the basis of the original village form and alleviate disturbance and damage from nature. We should strengthen the fundamental infrastructure in rural areas to make it possible for farmers to have access to flat roads, clean water, cheap electricity and safe housing. We should strengthen social undertakings in rural areas, such as promoting the standardized construction of schools for rural compulsory education and advancing the three rural health service network, dominated by county hospitals and based on township hospitals and village clinics, with the aim of providing farmers with the same convenient, modern and comfortable public service facilities as people living in the city.

Author: Ye Xingqing, research fellow of the Development Research Center of the State Council

Source: People's Daily, March 2014