Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
02
Agricultural development and
policy before and after China's
WTO accession
Jikun Huang and Scott Rozelle
China's economy has experienced remarkable growth and significant
structural changes snce economc reforms were ntated n 1979. The
annual average growth rate of gross domestc product (GDP) has been about
9 per cent n the past three decades (NBSC 2006). Ths rapd growth has
been accompanied by a significant structural shift in the economy from
agrculture to ndustry and servces.
Although agriculture's share of the economy has been falling, China has
stll enjoyed agrcultural growth rates that have consderably outpaced the
increase in population. Food security—one of the issues of central concern
to policymakers in China—has also improved significantly since the late
1970s. Contrary to the predctons of many analysts that Chna would put
pressure on global food securty n the course of ts rapd ndustralsaton
and the liberalisation of its economy, large net food import growth has not
occurred (Huang et. al 2007). At the micro level, China has made remarkable
progress n mprovng household food securty and reducng the ncdence
of malnutrton durng the past two and half decades.
While past accomplishments are impressive, there are still great
challenges ahead. For example, income disparity has risen along with rapid
economic growth. There are significant income disparities among regions,
between urban and rural regions and households, and among households
wthn the same locaton (Ca et al. 2002; World Bank 2002). Wthn the
