Analysis on the hidden dangers of industrial and commercial capital going to the countryside

Under the tripartite efforts of the central government's slogan of "synchronization of the four modernizations" and the local government's pursuit of government debt and capital's instinct for profit, during the current period, there has been an upsurge of industrial and commercial capital going to the countryside in many parts of the country, which is basically welcomed by the media. there is little in-depth investigation and analysis of the problems that may be brought about by industrial and commercial capital going to the countryside. According to the research conducted by the China Rural Governance Research Center of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, there are serious security risks for industrial and commercial capital going to the countryside, which may lead to serious consequences if left unguarded.

one

It is inevitable and reasonable for industrial and commercial capital to enter the field of agriculture. After the distribution of land to households, especially since Deng Xiaoping's speech on the southern tour, industrial and commercial capital has entered the pre-and post-natal link of agriculture, especially in the field of brand packaging for the processing, storage, transportation and marketing of agricultural products, which has strengthened the ability to connect agriculture with the market and improved the level of agricultural modernization. Families engaged in agricultural production of small farmers, small-scale production is difficult to connect with the large market, industrial and commercial capital into agricultural post-natal processing and sales and other links are inevitable and reasonable.

Industrial and commercial capital not only enters the post-natal link of the planting industry, but also generally enters the dairy industry and aquaculture industry. Before and after the abolition of agricultural tax, the state encouraged large-scale breeding in order to ensure the stability of urban meat prices, thus the most exciting part of industrial and commercial capital entering the "ten thousand pig farms" appeared in the whole country. At present, more than half of the total number of pigs in the country is raised on a scale of more than 300 pigs a year. There is also this trend in raising chickens and ducks. Because of its high requirements for processing and brand building, almost all dairy processing is monopolized by industrial and commercial capital.

In recent years, the industrial and commercial capital going to the countryside is different from the processing, sales and aquaculture industry in which the industrial and commercial capital enters the post-natal link of the planting industry, but is characterized by enclosed land and enters the production link of the planting industry. The industrial and commercial capital going to the countryside discussed in this paper also refers to the industrial and commercial capital entering the planting industry from planting to harvest through the circulation of farmers' land contractual management rights, which is the latest trend of industrial and commercial capital entering agriculture. It is also being vigorously promoted and encouraged by local governments at all levels, and such industrial and commercial capital going to the countryside may bring serious problems.

two

Generally speaking, agricultural production is a combination of natural process and social process, so it is difficult to carry out standardized labor evaluation, so it is naturally suitable for family management. At present, there are about 200 million farmers in China, and there are 2 billion mu of arable land in the country. A little more than 2% of the 2 billion mu of arable land is used to grow grain. Grain is a major agricultural product and the basis of national agricultural security. The state buys grain at a protective price. Precisely because grain is a major agricultural product, resistant to storage, purchased at a state protective price, and most of the agricultural materials required for grain production are standardized means of production, grain farmers do not have the problem of docking with the market. The so-called contradiction between small-scale production and large market basically does not exist in agriculture and agriculture.

Precisely because there is no problem of docking small-scale production with large market, small-scale farmers based on household management have natural advantages in grain production. Grain production provides opportunities for more than 200 million small farmers in China to share agricultural GDP, and it is through grain production that farmers can obtain self-sufficient economy through courtyard economy. In other words, farmers engaged in farming can not only earn income by growing grain and selling money, but also the cost of living in rural areas is much lower than that in cities. Considering that the current peasant families generally have a half-work and half-farming structure based on the intergenerational division of labor, that is, young children of the family go to work in cities to earn wages, and older parents stay in the village to earn agricultural income, the self-sufficient economy has greatly reduced the cost of living, which makes peasant families have savings every year, better economic conditions and higher living standards.

Because there is basically no difficulty in connecting grain production with the market, grain production is especially suitable for small farmers. Judging from our investigation and study throughout the country, the yield per mu of grain produced by small farmers must be much higher than that of capital management. the reason is very simple: small farmers grow their own fields and must cultivate their own fields, while capital employs people to cultivate the fields and must operate extensively. It is precisely for this reason that although the relevant departments have been promoting large-scale agricultural operation, so far most of the arable land in the country is still managed by small farmers, who produce more than 90% of the country's grain, that is, about 90% of the grain GDP.

If industrial and commercial capital goes to the countryside and forms grain cultivation on a large scale by transferring farmers' contracted management rights, industrial and commercial capital must share grain GDP. Under the condition that agricultural GDP accounts for less and less of the total GDP, and the share of agricultural GDP is relatively limited, the more industrial and commercial capital accounts for grain GDP, the less grain GDP farmers can share.

In other words, when industrial and commercial capital goes to the countryside to farm, it is bound to compete with farmers for profits. This situation has occurred in the aquaculture industry. Because of the state's support for large-scale farming, industrial and commercial capital has entered the breeding industry, while farmers generally earn less and less income from sideline industries such as raising pigs in the past.

three

One of the prerequisites for industrial and commercial capital to enter the planting industry is that the contracted management rights of farmers can be obtained one after another, and in order to obtain contractual management rights, industrial and commercial capital must pay high rents for the farmers who are least willing to withdraw from agricultural production, and the highest rent must also be the rent paid by industrial and commercial capital to all transferred land, which is as high as 1000 yuan per mu in many parts of the country. Originally, the agricultural profit is low, the risk is big, especially the natural risk is huge. The industrial and commercial capital rented into the cultivated land with high rent is likely to lose money year after year, resulting in bankruptcy. In our research in rural areas across the country in recent years, we have rarely found that industrial and commercial capital will not lose money or go bankrupt when renting farmers' cultivated land and growing grain at high rents.

In order to pursue profits, industrial and commercial capital is bound to try non-grain or even non-agriculture on the land. In fact, most of the industrial and commercial capital in the country has entered the agricultural enclosure not to grow food, but to grow high-priced cash crops, or even to develop sightseeing agriculture and real estate.

Industrial and commercial capital develops sightseeing agriculture through enclosure, which is a common phenomenon in the rural areas around the provincial capital cities, which is not a good thing. Oddly enough, it seems that local governments across the country are not only not stopping it, but also supporting it, even using financial resources to support it.

The direction of non-agricultural transformation of industrial and commercial capital is definitely wrong, and the problem of non-grain conversion is very big. The problem is that the de-grain of the transferred land by industrial and commercial capital is still very risky, because the planting of cash crops is not only expensive, but also particularly risky in the market. The prices of cash crops across the country fluctuate violently, so it is good to make money when there are peaks, and if you run into troughs, you will lose money at once, but you will not be able to earn it back for several years. From our research point of view, industrial and commercial capital engaged in cash crop cultivation, the same great risk. The probability of bankruptcy of industrial and commercial capital engaged in planting and aquaculture is far greater than that in processing and manufacturing.

Once the industrial and commercial capital that leases land from farmers with high rents goes bankrupt, it will no longer be able to pay land rents and may run away. Once industrial and commercial capital runs away, farmers have no choice but to turn to local governments. Therefore, the large-scale inflow of industrial and commercial capital into land may lead to social risks.