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China's Rural Reform (also called Agricultural Reform) was one of the multiple reforms included in the china's economic reform initiated by Deng Xiaoping, then leader of the Communist Party of China. Among the multiple dimensions of the economic reform, the reform in the agricultural sector was the first to be introduced.

Background
With the instability resulted from the two grave revolutions and the skyrocketing population, a reform that can lead to the stable production of food was needed. The Great Leap Forward led by Mao Zedong from 1958 to 1962 focused on has led to the Great Chinese Famine in 1959,

The Cultural Revolution initiated by Mao Zedong from 1966 to 1976

Course of the reform
At the beginning, the agricultural reform wasn't intended or initiated by the Chinese government, rather, it was initiated by 18 households in Xiaogang Village, Fengyang Xian, Anhui Province. In 1978, Fengyang Xian experienced a serious drought. To overcome the predicament, they came up with an arrangement in which each household was responsible for their own production. Farming tools and lands were equally distributed among the households. Each member had the free will to decide which types of crops to grow and was entitled to sell excess yields in the free market. They were also expected to withstand whatever losses they suffer on their own. This was the prototype of the household responsibility system. As this arrangement was completely against the values of the Communist Party and the villagers might be prosecuted with serious crime, the arrangement was kept secret without the awareness of higher officials. The arrangement turned out to be successful and was soon spread to other parts of Anhui Province and Sichuan Province.

In 1980, Deng Xiaoping publicly announced his endorsement in such policy, and the rural reform was officially enforced.