China - Fat of the Land but only for a select few

The Economist, March 25th - 31st 2006

Special issue on China's Reform Tasks

In 1940, nine years before his Communist Party seized power, Mao Zedong set out his plans for a "new China". The republic would he said, "take certain necessary steps" to confiscate land from rural landlords. Under the principle of "land to the tiller", it would then "turn the land over to the private ownership of the peasants". If only things had turned out this way.

In this article the Economist argues that the time is right for China's rulers to revive Mao's vision of a new landowning order. It suggests that this would ease rural strife, fuel growth and help develop the genuine market economy the leadership claims to want. Giving peasants' marketable ownership rights, and developing a legal system to protect them, would according to the Economist bring huge economic benefits.

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