Rural Reform should pay attention to systematicness

In order to deepen the rural reform in an all-round way, we should establish systematic thinking, fully respect the wishes of farmers and safeguard their rights and interests, and properly handle the relationship between farmers and land, between farmers and the government, and between farmers and communities.

General Secretary Xi Jinping recently presided over a forum on rural reform and delivered an important speech in Xiaogang Village, Fengyang County, Anhui Province, fully demonstrating the will and determination of the CPC Central Committee to further promote rural reform, development, and stability.

How to promote rural reform and development under the new situation? The reporter interviewed Ye Xingqing, director of the Rural Department of the Development Research Center of the State Council.

Reporter: the main line of deepening rural reform under the new situation is still to properly handle the relationship between farmers and land. How can we deal with it well so as to stimulate the vitality of rural elements?

Ye Xingqing: over the past 30 years and more, great changes have taken place in China's agricultural and rural areas. the most fundamental reason is that it has reformed the institutional and institutional obstacles that restrict the development of productive forces, especially the relationship between farmers and land. liberate farmers from the "big pot" system of production teams, and give farmers long-term and guaranteed land contractual management rights. With the in-depth development of industrialization and urbanization, a large number of agricultural labor force has turned to non-agricultural industries, and farmers continue to divide, which puts forward new requirements for further dealing with the relationship between farmers and land.

Under the new situation, it is necessary to promote the reform of the agricultural land system such as cultivated land, woodland and grassland according to the idea of "separation of ownership, contracting right and management right", and make clear the existing form and specific power of collective ownership of land; reasonably assign the right to contract, do a good job in registration, explore the realization form of contract right in places where conditions permit, and explore the market-oriented exit mechanism of contract right. Make clear the right attribute and specific power of the third-party management right as soon as possible, so as to provide institutional guarantee for the development of the new business subject.

The main way to deal with the relationship between farmers and collective construction land is to bring the income generated by these land into the collective income and to protect the democratic management right and income distribution right of the collective members. In order to deal with the relationship between farmers and homestead, we should gradually expand the power of usufruct of homestead obtained by farmers in accordance with the law, take the registration and issuance of the right of "integration of house and land" as the basis of reform, and take "house first and then land, land go with the house" as the empowerment logic. explore the effective ways of mortgage, guarantee and transfer of farmers' housing property rights, and explore the voluntary and paid withdrawal mechanism of homestead use rights.

Reporter: at present, with the declining efficiency of agricultural subsidies and the upside-down prices of agricultural products at home and abroad, how to properly handle the relationship between farmers and the government and stimulate the vitality of the rural market?

Ye Xingqing: since the mid-1980s, with fruit and aquatic products as a breakthrough, the market-oriented reform of China's agricultural product circulation system has been gradually promoted. By the new round of grain reform in 2004, the market-oriented reform of China's agricultural production and the circulation of agricultural products was basically completed, and the market began to play a decisive role in the allocation of agricultural resources. Since then, the state has gradually implemented the minimum purchase price and temporary purchase and storage system of major agricultural products, gradually established various subsidy systems, and formed a new type of "triangular relationship" among farmers, markets, and the state. This has promoted agricultural development to increase farmers' income and created another "golden period" for agricultural and rural development.

With the decline of the marginal effect of national support policies, the intensification of market distortion and the improvement of the inverted price of agricultural products at home and abroad, this "triangular" relationship urgently needs to be changed. The pilot reform of target price subsidies for soybeans and cotton launched in 2014 opened the prelude to this reform. the next step is to continue to promote the reform of the price formation mechanism and market regulation and control system of agricultural products, adopt the method of "policy of different varieties and gradual promotion", and gradually expand the areas in which the market plays a decisive role in accordance with the idea of "separation of price and compensation and market pricing". We will promote the reform of the agricultural subsidy system, reduce the distortion of subsidies on the allocation of agricultural resources, and improve the effectiveness of subsidy policies.

Whether it is to combine grain farmers' direct subsidies, improved varieties subsidies and comprehensive agricultural subsidies into agricultural support and protection subsidies, or to establish an agricultural credit guarantee system, or to develop inclusive finance in rural areas and improve the agricultural insurance system, it should reflect the policy orientation of focusing on improving agricultural quality, efficiency and competitiveness, tilting to a new type of operator, and developing a resource-saving and environment-friendly mode of production. Lead the transformation of agricultural development mode with the transformation of agricultural policy.

Reporter: with the change of various conditions, rural social governance is facing new challenges. Under the new situation, how to deal with the relationship between farmers and communities?

Ye Xingqing: under the new situation, the relationship between farmers and village communities is facing reshaping. To strengthen and innovate social governance, we should give priority to ensuring and improving people's livelihood, and establish the concepts of systematic governance, legal governance, comprehensive governance and source governance. It is necessary to explore pluralistic co-governance in rural communities, according to the general idea of party and government leaders, the main body of farmers, and social coordination, and make good use of consultation forms such as villagers' councils and villagers' councils to carry forward the culture of rural sages, and take nostalgia as a link to attract and gather people from all sides to support the construction of their hometown.

It is necessary to explore the reasonable radius of villagers' autonomy and, according to the new changes in the function of autonomy, with the goal of improving the effect of autonomy, carry out pilot projects of villagers' autonomy with villagers' groups (natural villages) and new rural communities as basic units. We will explore ways to separate villagers' autonomous organizations from village collective economic organizations, carry out the experiment of "separation of politics and economy", and peel off the functions of the village "two committees" in the operation and management of collective assets. We will promote the construction of Ping an townships and villages, carry out special rectification of public security problems, and guide the broad masses of farmers to abide by the law.

Reporter: how to respect farmers' wishes and safeguard their rights and interests in deepening rural reform?

Ye Xingqing: to respect the wishes of the peasants is to hand over the right of choice to the peasants, who will choose rather than replace them, and will not engage in coercive orders, wind, or across-the-board measures. To safeguard the rights and interests of farmers is to ensure that the state investment is not reduced in the reform of the price formation mechanism of agricultural products, the collection and storage system and the agricultural subsidy system, and to safeguard their land contract rights, homestead use rights and collective income distribution rights in the process of farmers' transfer to cities, and to protect farmers' right to know and participate in rural public affairs decision-making.

This is of practical significance to promote the structural reform on the supply side of agriculture. To promote the supply-side structural reform of agriculture, it is necessary for the state to issue guiding policies and exemplary projects, but what is more important is to give full play to the main role of farmers and stimulate their initiative and enthusiasm; although it is necessary for farmers to bear the cost and labor pains of transformation, it is necessary to avoid a cliff decline in farmers' interests in the short term, especially to solve the problem of safeguarding farmers' interests in the main corn producing areas.