Since the reform and opening up, China has implemented a series of reform measures and policy measures aimed at promoting the coordinated development of urban and rural economy, such as comprehensively implementing the household contract responsibility system and implementing the long-term stability of farmers' land contract rights; Adjust the industrialization strategy of giving priority to the development of heavy industry and support the development of agriculture and light industry; Support the development of township enterprises and promote the local transfer of surplus agricultural labor; Gradually liberalize the circulation and prices of agricultural products and cultivate rural commodity markets; Implement the strategy of urbanization and actively develop small towns.
However, it is undeniable that the gap between urban and rural areas in China is widening and the contradiction between urban and rural dual economic structure tends to strengthen. The widening gap between urban and rural areas is manifested in the income gap between urban and rural residents. In recent years, the growth of farmers' per capita net income lags far behind the growth of urban per capita disposable income, and the urban-rural income ratio has increased from 65438+2.57 to 0978? 1, 1983 once dropped to 1.82? 1, and has been expanding since then, expanding to 3.23 in 2003? 1; It has exceeded the initial stage of reform and opening up. If all kinds of benefits and subsidies enjoyed by urban residents are counted, and farmers' income includes production and operation expenses, the actual income gap may reach 6? 1。
Under the circumstances that China's economic and social outlook has undergone tremendous changes and social productivity and comprehensive national strength have been significantly improved, the urban-rural dual economic structure is still very prominent. Apart from the constraints of industrialization stage and productivity development level, the key is that many institutional problems that restrict the urban-rural dual economic structure have not been fundamentally solved, mainly as follows:
First, urban and rural management systems are different. In the planned economy period, in order to speed up the industrialization construction, on the one hand, the state used administrative means, such as compulsory purchase and sale of grain, scissors difference between workers and peasants, etc., to transform agricultural surplus into industrial accumulation; On the other hand, it restricts the migration of rural population to cities to maintain the development of large-scale industries in capital-intensive cities. Since the reform and opening up, the urban and rural household registration management, employment and social welfare systems formed during the planned economy period have been inherited to a certain extent. Although some places have carried out the reform of household registration system, these reforms need to pay high social costs because of hidden social welfare and other factors, and the progress has not been great. Therefore, the actual inequality between urban and rural residents in employment opportunities and social welfare level has not fundamentally changed.
Second, the market system of urban-rural division. From the perspective of commodity market, due to the low degree of organization, farmers can only enter the urban market for sporadic and small-scale spot transactions, and basically do not enter the wholesale market, and it is even more difficult to participate in large-scale forward contracts and futures transactions. The wholesale trade of bulk agricultural products such as grain, cotton, oil and sugar is still monopolized by state-owned circulation enterprises. From the perspective of factor market, money market and capital market are mainly oriented to urban economy because of the low average profit rate of agriculture and driven by interests. The relatively abundant funds in cities have not entered the countryside, and the conditions and channels for farmers to participate in the market and capital market are very limited; The transformation of rural land into industrial and urban construction land cannot be directly marketized, and it can only enter the market after being transformed into state-owned land through state expropriation. The primary market is controlled by the state, so it is difficult for farmers to enter the secondary market. Farmers are in a weak position in land transactions, and it is difficult to share the huge value-added benefits formed in the process of farmland conversion.
Third, the industrialization mode of urban-rural separation. During the planned economy period, concentrating rural resources to promote urban industrialization hindered the process of urban-rural economic integration in China to a great extent. After the reform and opening up, the industrialization mode of urban-rural division was implemented, and the production, circulation and processing of agricultural products did not form an organic connection, making it difficult for farmers to share the value-added benefits of agricultural products processing; Township enterprises are independent of industry management in management system, all-encompassing and self-contained; The parallel development and excessive competition between rural industrialization and urban industrialization make the development space of rural industry obviously limited after the change of market supply and demand pattern and the docking of domestic market and international market, and the ability to absorb rural surplus labor force is weakened, which directly and indirectly affects farmers to share the fruits of industrialization.
Fourth, implement other input mechanisms. In the planned economy period, in order to maintain the development of large-scale industries in capital-intensive cities, the state invested capital, technology, talents and other production factors in cities, and at the same time relied on agricultural accumulation to support the development of urban industries. After the reform and opening up, on the one hand, rural factors of production such as capital, labor and land are transferred and gathered to cities driven by economic interests; On the other hand, the country continues to lean towards cities in infrastructure and public service facilities such as science, education, culture and health, while rural areas rely on self-accumulation to some extent, such as "three overall plans and five guarantees", and carry out corresponding infrastructure and public service facilities construction, resulting in an increasing gap between urban and rural areas in infrastructure and public service facilities.
To sum up, institutional factors actually form the mutual isolation between agricultural and rural development and industrialization and urban development, which is the key to the dual economic structure of urban and rural areas.
Two, fully understand the long-term, arduous and complex reform.
It is a profound social change to establish a new system that is conducive to changing the urban-rural dual economic structure and promote the transformation of the urban-rural dual economic structure into a modern dual economic and social structure. It includes not only the transformation of rural production and lifestyle with urban production and lifestyle, the reorganization of production factors, the flow and migration of rural population to cities, the organic integration and organizational transformation of urban and rural industries, but also the transformation of the whole social structure, organization and culture. This process is a long historical process accompanying the primary stage of socialism in China, and it cannot be accomplished overnight. However, under the situation that the contradiction between urban and rural dual economic structure is increasingly prominent, we must fully understand the necessity and urgency of speeding up the reform, seize the opportunity, and promote the reform in important and key links.
It is a profound social change to establish a new system that is conducive to changing the urban-rural dual economic structure and promote the transformation of the urban-rural dual economic structure into a modern dual economic and social structure. It includes not only the transformation of rural production and lifestyle with urban production and lifestyle, the reorganization of production factors, the flow and migration of rural population to cities, the organic integration and organizational transformation of urban and rural industries, but also the transformation of the whole social structure, organization and culture. This process is a long historical process accompanying the primary stage of socialism in China, and it cannot be accomplished overnight. However, under the situation that the contradiction between urban and rural dual economic structure is increasingly prominent, we must fully understand the necessity and urgency of speeding up the reform, seize the opportunity, and promote the reform in important and key links.
Realizing the integration of urban and rural economy is a long-term historical process accompanying the modernization process of China, and it is also a complicated socio-economic process that constantly adapts to the requirements of the economic and social development process. We must fully realize the long-term, arduous and complex nature of this process, and realize the contradictions and difficulties we are facing. What is certain is that the traditional dual economic structure of urban and rural areas in China has undergone obvious changes, and the situation of urban and rural market segmentation has been greatly improved. However, we should also see that the key institutional factors of urban-rural dual economic structure, such as the unification of urban-rural factor market, the reform of rural land expropriation and occupation system, and the construction of social security system, are still lagging behind, and some deep-seated problems have not yet made breakthrough progress and have a long way to go. In this regard, we must have a full estimate. It is necessary to combine gradual progress with key breakthroughs and seize the opportunity to make breakthroughs in important links according to the mature conditions; According to the level of economic development in various regions, breakthroughs have been made in some regions to promote overall progress.
Third, deepen reform and coordinate urban and rural development.
To establish and improve the institutional mechanism conducive to urban-rural integration is to take institutional and policy innovation as a breakthrough, reform various systems that are not suitable for the requirements of the socialist market economic system and are not conducive to urban-rural integration, fundamentally eliminate institutional and policy obstacles that hinder urban-rural integration, and promote the transformation of urban-rural economic system to constantly adapt to and improve the inherent requirements of the socialist market economic system, thus creating good institutional conditions for promoting the transformation of urban-rural dual economic structure to modern dual economic and social structure.
First, deepen the reform of the household registration system and gradually unify the urban and rural labor markets. Conditional areas to cancel the difference between urban and rural household registration, cancel the agricultural registered permanent residence, and implement a new household registration management system based on legal fixed residence or stable occupation. After obtaining urban hukou, farmers will perform the same obligations and enjoy the same rights as the original urban residents. Gradually abolish all kinds of urban consumption subsidies and social welfare unique to cities, and gradually increase investment in rural public facilities and services, greatly improving the welfare level of rural residents.
Second, promote the reform of rural land requisition and occupation system and implement the policy of "land for social security". Reform the system of land requisition and compensation, strictly distinguish between public welfare land and business land, improve the compensation standard of public welfare land, and rationally adjust the distribution relationship of land value-added income between the state and farmers; Market mechanism should be introduced into commercial land, and collective land transactions should be piloted. The land occupation price is determined by the market mechanism. Explore the establishment of a land transfer fee sharing system among the central government, provincial governments and governments below the provincial level, and incorporate the land transfer fee into the national and local fiscal budgets to reflect the state's rights to land owners and curb the expansion impulse of local governments and the extensive use of land resources. Explore the possibility of collecting land transfer fees on an annual basis, avoid local governments' quick success and instant benefit, and promote the sustainable development and utilization of local land resources. The policy of "land for social security" will be realized when agricultural land is converted to non-agriculture, and a certain proportion of rental income will be set up to establish a special social security account for landless farmers.
Third, accelerate the reform of the rural tax and fee system and gradually unify the urban and rural tax systems. The main countermeasures to unify the urban and rural tax system are: first, gradually reduce the agricultural tax until it is finally abolished, and farmers pay personal income tax and value-added tax as urban residents do, so that the local fiscal gap is solved by the central and provincial fiscal transfer payments. Second, gradually establish and improve the rural public finance system. During the transition period, while increasing the central and provincial, prefecture (city) level transfer payments to rural finance, we will gradually reduce and cancel the rural overall planning fees, incorporate rural public welfare expenditures and township administrative expenditures into the government budget, and gradually increase investment in rural infrastructure and public service facilities. The third is to consolidate and improve compulsory education in rural areas. Where conditions permit, the province and county (city) will gradually implement overall planning, and different overall planning ratios will be implemented according to different situations. The central government will gradually increase its investment in compulsory education in rural areas.
Fourth, promote the extension of minimum living security to rural areas and gradually expand the coverage of rural social security. In areas where conditions permit, we will promote the extension of the minimum living security system to rural areas and cover farmers in cities, and gradually realize the integration of urban and rural areas with minimum living security. Conditional areas will gradually expand the coverage of social security system, first covering farmers who lost their land in the process of non-agricultural land conversion, then covering rural migrants who have entered urban employment and are willing to withdraw from contracted land, and then gradually covering rural areas.
Fifth, increase investment in rural infrastructure and public facilities to improve the welfare level of farmers. Strengthen the overall planning of urban and rural infrastructure such as transportation, communication and electric power. Standardization and institutionalization of rural public product investment. If the state increases fiscal revenue and equity income for investment and social welfare expenditure, the distribution ratio in rural areas will be greatly improved.
Sixth, improve the degree of organization of farmers' production and operation and enhance their ability to participate in market competition. Encourage farmers to establish new economic cooperation organizations and enhance their ability to obtain market information and participate in market competition.
Seventh, actively develop rural finance and activate the rural financial market. According to the principle of marketization, the floating range of loan interest rates for rural small and medium-sized enterprises and farmers will be appropriately relaxed. We will promote equity diversification, equity formation and openness of rural credit cooperatives, and strive to eliminate the urban-rural blockade and division of capital flows. On the premise of strengthening supervision and preventing risks, we will prudently and actively promote the development, reform and innovation of private finance, relax the restrictions and constraints on the development of private finance, and promote the development of rural financial markets.
Eighth, deepen the reform of township administrative management system and effectively streamline township institutions and personnel. We will steadily promote the withdrawal of townships and merge towns, appropriately expand the service radius of township governments, and continuously improve work efficiency. Where conditions permit, the reform of township government to county government institutions can be carried out on a pilot basis, reducing administrative levels, greatly reducing administrative personnel and reducing administrative costs.