Abstract
Government policies and institutions are the driving force behind resource flows at the macro-economic level. This chapter examines the major policies and institutions that have directed the intersectoral resource flows, which ultimately have an impact on rural income as well as rural–urban income disparities.
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- 1.
Some scholars have argued that the 1955 directive was issued in response to the huge influx of farmers into the cities (Liu, 2005).
- 2.
Food rationing was abolished in 1993.
- 3.
Regulations on Dealing with Household Registration Change, Ministry of Public Security, 1977.
- 4.
Migration did take place during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), when many urban cadres, students and intellectuals were xiafang (sent down) to the countryside to be re-educated by the peasants. At the same time, peasant labourers were brought in for urban construction and industrialization. Therefore, this was a period of the huge exchange of urban and rural labour (Chan, 1994). As these peasant labourers were usually ‘temporary’ or ‘contract’ workers, they were not given an urban hukou and not categorized as the urban population, as described in Fig. 3.1.
- 5.
Estimates of migrants vary in China, as most of them are unofficial and undocumented.
- 6.
‘Blue-stamp’ hukou was gradually phased out in different cities since 2003.
- 7.
This practice was extended to all small towns and cities and, further, to some of the larger and capital cities in 2001.
- 8.
The State Council and Ministry of Public Security in 1998 published ‘Several Comments on Some Predominant Problems Concerning Present Household Registration System’, which stipulated that: (1) children’s registration will follow either the mother or father depending on the decision of the parents (formerly, the children’s registration was with the mother); (2) there would be a further relaxation of the policies concerning separated spouses; (3) parents are able to follow their children by transferring their hukou to the cities where their children are living; and (4) investment and property purchase in the cities would be encouraged.
- 9.
Interim Regulations Concerning Entry of Household Registration of Nanjiang City, Municipal Government and Public Security Bureau of Nanjing, June 19, 2004.
- 10.
This was abolished in 2005.
- 11.
Xinhua News, The Pearl River Delta Encounters Shortage of Migrant Labour, April 19, 2006.
- 12.
Agricultural and related taxes were abolished officially from January, 2006.
- 13.
The State Council, Management Regulations on Expenses and Labour Undertaken by Peasants, December 7, 1991.
- 14.
Ibid.
- 15.
Decision on Amendment of Income Tax Law of the People’s Republic of China, passed at 18th Session of the Standing Committee of the 10th National People’s Congress.
- 16.
On December 29, 2005, the 19th Session of the 10th National People’s Congress Standing Committee passed the Decision to Abolish the Agricultural Tax Regulations of People’s Republic of China.
- 17.
Minister of Finance’s speech during interview on December 29, 2005.
- 18.
Speech made during interview by the Xinhua News Agency on December 29th, 2005.
- 19.
In 1953, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council published Decision on Grain Compulsory Procurement and Sales and Order on Planned Procurement and Planned Sales of Grains.
- 20.
The negotiated prices were lower than the market prices but higher than the contract prices.
- 21.
Price average for the within and above quota prices.
- 22.
The sovereignty of Hong Kong was handed over to the PRC in 1997.
- 23.
Labour cost = living necessities for a labourer per year/(365 − days of rest)
- 24.
It represents a welfare judgement, which cannot reflect the opportunity cost because commune members were paid evenly for their time spent on on-the-job leisure. From 1965–78, a daily labourer’s wages were set at 0.8 yuan.
- 25.
Retail prices refer to the state retail prices, rather than the market prices. The market retail prices were always higher than the state prices.
- 26.
State-owned enterprises were allowed to retain some of their profits since the 1980s.
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Gao, Y., Fennell, S. (2018). Institutions and Policy Making. In: China’s Rural–Urban Inequality in the Countryside. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8273-3_3
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