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Page 1 of 6 Introduction
Land ownership reform was a key factor in the communist victory during. Initial reform implemented by the communist part both before and immediately after the 1949 victory lead to increases in output and social harmony. Subsequent reforms to collectivise agricultural land were less successful. The most recent reforms clearly draw on the successes and failures of the past, most recently to increase security of tenure for farmers. This paper traces the waves of land ownership reform from the 1911 revolution through to current initiatives.
Pre-revolution status
There is uncertainty about the concentration of landownership in China before republican era and socialist era land reforms. CCP officials typically claim that 70–80% of land was owned by landlords and rich peasants (Esherick, 1981). At the other extreme land ownership in China is characterised as relatively equal, where “the typical landlord owned only a few acres more than his poorest neighbours” (Elvin, 1970:165, following Hsiao, 1969). This latter view would seem to have the stronger weight of evidence behind it (i.e., Buck, 1964; Hsiao, 1969) as well theoretical support because it helps explain China’s comparatively low levels of capital accumulation and the absence of a significant proletariat (i.e., high level equilibrium trap; Elvin, 1973; Wong, 1997). Esherick, 1981, taking into account various methodological issues, estimates the amount of land rented to be a little over 40%, a figure more in keeping with Elvin and others and which can be reconciled with CCP claims about redistribution after 1949 (discussed below). Esherick, 1981, does not see much logic in assuming that there was a significant increase in land ownership concentration during the 1930s and 1940s. While there is debate about the extent of land ownership concentration, as soon as the republic was declared peasants resisted payment of rents (Schiffrin, 1957), which were as much as 50% of farm yield (Chen, 1948), highlighting the extent of resentment at landlord profiteering.
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