Wang Dawei, Kong Cuifang, Xu Qinxian: China's century-old urban-rural relationship: from rural encirclement of cities to urban-rural integration

Original title: China's Century-Old Urban-Rural Relations: From Rural Encirclement of Cities to Urban-Rural Integration Development -- Correctly handling urban-rural relations is an important magic weapon for the COMMUNIST Party of China

About author:Wang Dawei, male, director of the Policy Research Department of the Center for Urban and Small Town Reform and Development of the National Development and Reform Commission, and a researcher.

Kong Cuifang, female, is an assistant researcher at the Center for Urban and Small Town Reform and Development of the National Development and Reform Commission.

Xu Qinxian, female, is an associate researcher at the Center for Urban and Small Town Reform and Development of the National Development and Reform Commission.

I. Introduction

The relationship between urban and rural areas is an important relationship in economic and social development, and in building a socialist modern country in a country with traditional agricultural civilization, how to deal with urban-rural relations is a major strategic issue in the process of national development. In the process of the CPC leading China's revolution, construction, reform and opening up, and building a modern socialist country, it has always been accompanied by the process of correctly understanding the relationship between urban and rural areas, thoroughly summarizing the laws of urban and rural development, and scientifically guiding the direction of urban and rural development. Reviewing and summarizing the course and experience of handling urban-rural relations in the past hundred years since the founding of the Communist Party of China is of great theoretical and practical significance for resolving the imbalance between urban and rural development, the biggest imbalance in China's development and the insufficient development of rural areas, which is the biggest problem of China's development, and for promoting the benign interaction between new-type urbanization and rural revitalization, accelerating the integrated development of urban and rural areas, and realizing the common prosperity of urban and rural areas.

Countryside and cities are the two main forms of human settlement. Since the birth of the city, there has been an urban-rural relationship, which accompanies the whole process of urban and rural development. The relationship between urban and rural areas is reflected in many aspects such as economic, political, cultural, social and ecological environment. Due to the different stages of development, the relationship between urban and rural areas is manifested as mutual promotion or confrontation, coordination or restriction. In the long period before the first industrial revolution, due to the limitation of the level of productivity, urban and rural areas were interdependent, and the relationship between urban and rural areas was relatively stable, and the relationship between urban and rural areas was generally dependent and dependent, management and management. The industrial revolution has drastically changed the relationship between urban and rural areas, the city has become a center of production and exchange, and with its economic and cultural advantages to attract rural population, resources to the city, the relationship between urban and rural areas has undergone profound changes, the city dominates the countryside, the countryside is subordinate to the city, and a sharp urban-rural antagonism is divided. As for the direction of this relation, as Marx said, the antagonism between urban and rural areas destroys the necessary adaptation and interdependence between industry and agriculture, and thus disappears as capitalism is transformed into a higher form. Once the face of the urban-rural relationship is changed, the face of the whole society will also change.

Changes in China's urban-rural relations are universal and special. In the long historical period before 1840, Chinese society was dominated by a self-sufficient natural economy, and the relationship between urban and rural areas was relatively stable. After 1840, China entered a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, and the external shock caused great changes in the production structure and social structure, accelerated the transformation of urban-rural relations, and separated the city and the countryside. Guided by Marxism and based on China's national conditions, the Communist Party of China profoundly understands, handles, and guides the relationship between urban and rural areas, so that China's urban-rural relations will move from antagonism and separation to integrated development. During the revolutionary period, the Communist Party of China based itself on the rural base areas, implemented the land system of "the tiller has his own land," mobilized the broad masses of peasants, gathered the mighty strength of the Chinese revolution, and embarked on a revolutionary road of encircling the cities from the countryside. During the construction period, in the complicated international environment, a planned economic system was adopted, and the development strategy of giving priority to heavy industry was implemented, forming a situation in which urban and rural areas were isolated and divided, and agriculture supported industry. It is precisely because of the support of agriculture and rural areas for industry and cities that China has established a relatively complete industrial system on the basis of poverty and poverty. During the reform period, through the empowerment of farmers and market-oriented reforms, the dual economic and social system between urban and rural areas was gradually broken, and the relationship between urban and rural areas entered a stage of in-depth adjustment and interaction, and the vigorous development vitality was released. Since the Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the integration of urban and rural development has been comprehensively accelerated, the new urbanization strategy with people as the core has been deeply implemented, the rural revitalization strategy has been fully launched, and the relationship between urban and rural areas has entered a new stage of complementary and integrated development.

Second, the evolution of urban-rural relations in China in the past century and the main characteristics

Over the past 100 years, China's urban-rural relations have experienced four stages: rural encirclement of cities in the midst of separation and confrontation, selection of urban-rural division in various explorations, accelerated interaction between urban and rural areas in adjustment and reform, and integrated development of urban and rural areas in complementary linkage. The correct handling of urban-rural relations in the four stages under the leadership of the Communist Party of China has provided strong support for revolution, construction, reform and opening up, and socialist modernization in the new era.

1. Urban-Rural Relations in the Revolutionary Period (1921-1949): Separation and Opposition

Old China was heavily controlled by the triple control of feudalism, bureaucratic capitalism and imperialism. The extremely barbaric plundering of the countryside by the cities ruled by foreign imperialism and the big comprador bourgeoisie of the country, the presence of a large number of landlords, aggravates the decay and exploitation of the countryside. From 1921 to 1949, it was also the period when the urban-rural divide and opposition was the most serious. Judging from the occupation of land for the most important means of production, the rural population accounted for nearly 80% of the total population of the country around 1921. In the vast rural areas, landless sharecroppers and peasants account for 55 percent of the peasants; and among the 45 percent of the landed peasants, 44 percent of the poor peasants who own a small amount of arable land (with an average household size of less than 10 mu) occupy less than 6 percent of the land in the countryside. This extremely uneven land tenure has left nearly 80 per cent of the peasants in extreme poverty.

At the beginning of its founding, the Communist Party of China began to pay attention to the importance of urban-rural relations. In the practice of revolutionary struggle, we have profoundly understood and made full use of the contradiction between urban and rural separated opposition at this stage. In 1921, the Program of the Communist Party of China, issued when the Communist Party of China was founded, clearly stated that workers, peasants and soldiers should be organized. The Second to Fifth National Congresses of the Communist Party of China, held from 1922 to 1927, put forward the need to attach importance to the role of the peasantry in the revolution, such as the Second Manifesto of the Party: "China's thirty thousand peasants are the greatest element in the revolutionary movement." After the defeat of the Great Revolution in 1927, the "Eighty-Seven Conference" defined the policy of agrarian revolution and armed uprising, and put forward the central issue of the agrarian revolution in China. After several setbacks in the armed division, the Communist Party of China finally mobilized the peasants through the agrarian revolution under the correct leadership of Chairman Mao Zedong and united the broadest peasants. From the formulation of the Jinggangshan Land Law in 1927 to the promulgation of the Outline of China's Land Law in 1947, the Communist Party of China implemented different land laws at different stages, stimulated the revolutionary enthusiasm of the peasants, and laid the mass foundation and material foundation for the victory of the revolution. Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the cities were surrounded by rural areas, and the cities occupied by reactionary forces were finally seized, ending the situation of serious separation and confrontation between urban and rural areas.

2. Urban-Rural Relations in the Construction Period (1949-1978): Exploration and Difficult Choices

In March 1949, Chairman Mao Zedong put forward the strategic concept of "steadily transforming China from an agrarian country into an industrial country and building China into a great socialist country" at the Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and pointed out that the focus of the Party's work must shift from the countryside to the cities. Based on the three years of national economic recovery from 1949 to 1952 and the practice of the first five-year plan implemented later, Chairman Mao Zedong published "On the Relationship between the Ten Great Congresses" in 1956, pointing out that "urban and rural areas must be balanced, and urban work and rural work must be closely linked between industry and agriculture." Later, with the changes in the international environment, the establishment of an independent and complete industrial system and ensuring national security became an inevitable choice related to the fate of the country and the nation. China has adopted a development strategy of giving priority to heavy industry. Since 1958, strict restrictions on population movement, the centralized purchase and marketing of agricultural products, and the people's communes have been gradually established and improved, and China has formed a situation of urban and rural division in economic, political and social management. Although due to the sharp decline in grain production and other reasons, the policy of "agriculture is the foundation and industry is the dominant" was proposed during the period, but overall, the dual structure of urban and rural areas was gradually formed and solidified during this period.

Economic aspects. A situation has been formed in which agriculture supports industry and rural areas support cities. First, price controls divert agricultural surpluses to cities. The price control of industrial and agricultural products and the centralized purchase and marketing of grain in rural areas have formed a price scissors difference for industrial and agricultural products, and the price scissors difference has made agriculture contribute 600 billion to 800 billion yuan to industry before the reform. Second, the labour productivity gap between the non-farm sector and the agricultural sector continues to remain at a high level. In the 1970s, labour productivity in the non-farm sector was more than seven times greater than in the agricultural sector. Third, the income and consumption of urban and rural residents have been suppressed to a low level.

Social management aspects. The first is to restrict the movement of people between urban and rural areas. In 1958, the "Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Household Registration" were implemented, and the household registration management system of urban and rural duality was formally established, the population migration from rural areas to cities and towns was strictly controlled, and the level of urbanization hovered at a low level, and from 1949 to 1978, the urbanization rate increased by only 7 percentage points. The second is to establish a welfare system that distinguishes urban and rural areas. In cities, the government provides comprehensive welfare guarantees for urban residents; in rural areas, farmers receive only a small amount of cash and in-kind assistance from the collective. Third, in terms of grass-roots organizations, the people's commune system has been gradually established in the rural areas, and the organizational management system of "integrating politics and society" has been implemented.

The urban-rural dual structure solidified during this period has made the level of agricultural development and peasants' living standards hover for a long time, and has also affected the overall efficiency of national economic development. By 1978, the per capita GDP had increased by only 2.8 times compared with 1952; the per capita disposable income of urban residents was 343 yuan, an average annual real increase of only 0.8 percent over 1957; the per capita net income of rural households was 134 yuan, an average annual increase of only 2.3 percent over 1957; per capita grain production increased by only about 5.6 percent compared with 1957; and the problem of food and clothing has never been well solved. However, the result of agricultural support for industry has also enabled China to establish a relatively complete industrial system as a whole, with heavy industry accounting for about 55%, the proportion of metallurgy, machinery, electric power, petroleum and chemical industry rising rapidly, the machinery industry becoming the largest industrial industry in the late 1950s, and national security also withstood the test in the severe external environment.

3. Urban-Rural Relations in the Reform Period (1978-2012): Adjustment and Deepening Interaction

In 1978, the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China opened the curtain of reform and opening up. Deng Xiaoping advocated the reform of production relations and put forward the idea of "first the countryside, then the city" idea. From 1982 to 1986, five consecutive "No. 1 Documents" on agricultural and rural development promoted rural development. After taking the lead in testing the waters from the countryside for a period of time, the reform gradually expanded to the cities. The reform has gradually loosened the dual system of urban and rural areas, and there has been a major adjustment in the relationship between urban and rural areas. During this period, starting with the reform of the rural management system, the price control was gradually relaxed, the restrictions on the movement of the population were relaxed, and the people's communes were abolished, and the rural productive forces were rapidly released. After the 1990s, in the process of urban-biased reform, rural surplus labor flowed into the cities, creating a huge demographic dividend for urban development, and the conversion of agricultural land to non-agricultural land enabled cities to obtain land appreciation dividends for agricultural land conversion, which further widened the gap between urban and rural areas. By 2002, the urban-rural income gap ratio had exceeded 3 times. In order to cope with the widening gap between urban and rural areas and a series of economic and social problems, the report of the Sixteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China for the first time proposed "coordinating the economic and social development of urban and rural areas", raising the overall planning of urban and rural development to a new height, and gradually reversing the dual structure of urban and rural areas. This stage can be roughly bounded by 2003 and is divided into two periods.

First, from 1978 to 2003, the urban-rural dual structural adjustment and the "swing" period of urban-rural relations.

Economic aspects. First, the reform of production relations with the household contract management responsibility system as the main body has liberated the rural productive forces and increased the peasants' incomes relatively quickly. In 1985, the per capita net income of rural households was 397.6 yuan, which was twice that of 1980, and around 1985, it also became the period when the income gap between urban and rural residents in China was the smallest. Second, price control has been gradually liberalized. In 1985, the "Ten Policies of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Further Invigorating the Rural Economy" stipulated: "Except for a few varieties, the state will no longer issue to the peasants the task of purchasing and distributing agricultural products in a unified manner. At this point, the system of unified purchase and marketing of agricultural products, which has been implemented for 32 years, has begun to be broken. Third, the change in the bias of reform has made the gap between agricultural and non-agricultural labor productivity go through a process of changing from large to small and from small to large, and in 1977, the gap between agricultural and non-agricultural labor productivity was 7.16 times, then fell to 3.87 times in 1984, and expanded to 6.88 times in 2003.

Social management aspects. The restrictions on population movement have been gradually relaxed, some small towns have explored the relaxation of restrictions on rural population settlement, and the urbanization rate has increased rapidly, from 17.92% in 1978 to 40.53% in 2003, and the urban population has increased from 172 million to 524 million. However, at this stage, the differences between urban and rural welfare systems, which are mainly based on the household registration system, are still prominent. After entering the 1990s, the reform of urban state-owned enterprises provided a certain employment space for the surplus agricultural labor force and promoted the continuous adjustment of urban-rural relations, but the welfare gap between urban and rural residents has not fundamentally changed. The agricultural migrant population flowing into cities and towns cannot enjoy the basic public services such as employment, medical care, and social security enjoyed by urban residents.

Second, from 2003 to 2012, the period of coordinated urban-rural development and urban-rural integration development was coordinated.

Economic aspects. Support for agriculture is gradually increasing. Since 2002, the national rural tax and fee reform has begun to be promoted, and by 2006, all agricultural taxes have been abolished, creating important conditions for eliminating the dual structure of urban and rural areas. After 2002, the "four subsidies" policy such as direct subsidy for grain planting, subsidy for fine seeds, subsidy for the purchase of agricultural machinery and comprehensive subsidy for agricultural materials has been introduced, and the scope and scale of subsidies have continued to increase, and the scale of funds has increased from 100 million yuan in 2002 to 165.3 billion yuan in 2012.

Social management aspects. First, the reform of the household registration system has been gradually carried out. From 2003 to 2006, documents on relaxing population management, such as the Notice on Doing a Good Job in the Management and Service of Migrant Workers' Employment in Cities and several opinions on Solving the Problem of Migrant Workers, were successively issued, and the population repatriation system was abolished, resulting in a significant increase in the floating population. From 2005 to 2013, the floating population increased from 147 million to 236 million, an average annual increase of 11.12 million. Second, the reform of the land system has been accelerated. In 2004, the State Council promulgated the Decision on Deepening Reform and Strict Land Management, which made many new provisions on improving the compensation and resettlement system for land requisition, especially in the areas of job resettlement and social security for landless peasants. Third, the level of farmers' welfare has gradually improved, and an important step has been taken in the equalization of basic public services in urban and rural areas. The Sixth Plenary Session of the Sixteenth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China proposed to gradually realize the equalization of basic public services in urban and rural areas. In 2003, the pilot of the new rural cooperative medical system was carried out in some counties (cities), covering all counties (cities) in 2008, and the number of insured people in the country reached 802 million in 2013, and the participation rate reached 98.7%. In 2006, the reform of the funding guarantee mechanism for rural compulsory education was implemented, and rural compulsory education was gradually included in the scope of public financial guarantees, and nine-year compulsory education was fully popularized. In 2007, a rural minimum living security system was established nationwide, which basically covered all counties at the end of that year, and in 2009, a pilot project of new rural social endowment insurance was launched.

4. A new stage in urban-rural relations since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (2012-present): complementarity and comprehensive integration

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core has attached great importance General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly stressed that promoting the integration of urban and rural development is an inevitable requirement for the development of industrialization, urbanization and agricultural modernization to a certain stage, and is an important symbol of national modernization; handling the relationship between industry and agriculture and urban and rural areas determines the success or failure of modernization to a certain extent; improving the institutional mechanism for the integration of urban and rural development is a major task that has a bearing on the overall situation and has a long-term relationship; it is necessary to take the road of integrated urban and rural development, to give impetus to reform, and to accelerate the establishment and improvement of institutional mechanisms and policy systems for the integration of urban and rural development. In 2013, the Party Central Committee held the Central Urbanization Work Conference, the 2014 National New Urbanization Plan (2014-2020) was released, the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed the implementation of the rural revitalization strategy in 2017, the 2018 Rural Revitalization Strategic Plan (2018-2022) was released, and in 2019 the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued the Opinions on Establishing and Improving the Institutional Mechanism and Policy System for the Integrated Development of Urban and Rural Areas, which clearly proposed to accelerate the formation of a new type of urban-rural relationship between industry and agriculture. Since the Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the key institutional reforms related to the urban-rural dual system, such as the household registration system, the urban and rural public resource allocation system, and the land system, have made historic breakthroughs, the relationship between urban and rural areas has been historically improved, the integration and development of urban and rural areas has been accelerated, and the relationship between urban and rural areas has entered a new stage.

First, a historic breakthrough has been made in the reform of the dual household registration system in urban and rural areas. In July 2014, the State Council's Opinions on Further Promoting the Reform of the Household Registration System proposed to establish a unified urban and rural household registration system, abolish the distinction between agricultural and non-agricultural hukou, and uniformly register as a resident hukou. By 2018, all 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) across the country have introduced household registration system reform plans, and a unified urban and rural household registration system has been fully established, and the name "agricultural hukou" has become history. At the same time, all kinds of cities have gradually relaxed the settlement control of agricultural transfer population, and by the end of 2020, the country's cities with a population of less than 3 million people have generally relaxed the settlement restrictions, and the willing agricultural transfer population has basically realized the free settlement in most cities below the super large and extra large. From 2014 to 2019, more than 100 million people transferred from agriculture became urban residents.

Second, the establishment of a public resource allocation mechanism integrating urban and rural areas has been accelerated. The equalization of basic public services in urban and rural areas with a focus on the allocation of public resources has been accelerated. In 2014, the State Council issued the Opinions on establishing a Unified Basic Old-age Insurance System for Urban and Rural Residents, establishing a unified basic old-age insurance system for urban and rural residents nationwide. In 2015, according to the Notice of the State Council on Further Improving the Funding Guarantee Mechanism for Urban and Rural Compulsory Education, a unified urban and rural compulsory education funding guarantee mechanism was established. In 2016, the State Council issued the Opinions on the Integration of the Basic Medical Insurance System for Urban and Rural Residents, promoting the integration of urban residents' medical insurance and the new rural cooperative system, and gradually establishing a unified medical insurance system for urban and rural residents nationwide. At present, the national basic public service projects and standards have been fully implemented, and the guarantee capacity has been further improved. At the end of 2019, the basic medical insurance for urban and rural residents covered 1.354 billion people, the basic old-age insurance covered 968 million people, and the number of people insured by unemployment insurance and work injury insurance reached 205 million and 255 million respectively. At the same time, the construction of urban and rural infrastructure has accelerated towards connectivity and integration, and by the end of 2018, 99.6% of the townships and 99.5% of the organized villages in the country have hardened roads, 96% of the established villages have been connected by optical fiber, and convenient and rapid connectivity between urban and rural areas has been realized.

Third, a unified urban and rural construction land market has been gradually established. Major progress has been made in the reform of rural contracted land, residential land, and collective operation construction land, which has promoted the construction of a unified urban and rural construction land market. The "separation of three rights" system of ownership, contracting rights, and management rights of rural contracted land has been established, which has stabilized the household contract responsibility system, liberalized the right to operate rural land, and promoted land circulation. The reform and exploration of the "separation of the three rights" of ownership, qualification and use of rural residential land has been deepened, and on the basis of protecting the legitimate right of residence of farmers, more property rights have been given to farmers. As of the end of 2018, 11,000 cases and 106,000 mu of rural collective operation construction land were directly entered the market, with a total price of 29 billion yuan, and 180,000 households and 118,000 mu of sporadic idle homesteads were vacated, and farmers' property rights were realized.

A series of policy measures to promote the integration and integration of urban and rural development have made the flow of urban and rural population and factors smoother, and the urbanization rate exceeded 60% in 2019 to 60.6%; the income ratio of urban and rural residents fell sharply, from 2.88 in 2012 to 2.64 in 2019; agricultural labor productivity increased significantly; the victory in poverty alleviation was completed, and China eliminated absolute poverty for the first time in history.

Third, the important experience of the Communist Party of China in handling urban-rural relations

Over the past hundred years, the CPC has gained the following important experience in handling urban-rural relations.

1. Handle urban-rural relations with an eye on the strategic goal of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation

The CPC's process of handling urban-rural relations has always centered on the overall strategic situation of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, and has always served the phased goals and tasks of standing up, getting rich, and becoming strong.

During the revolutionary period, the Communist Party of China seized the antagonistic contradictions existing in the relations between urban and rural areas, relied on the broad masses of peasants, led the Chinese revolution to victory, realized national independence and people's liberation, and took the first step in the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. During the construction period, New China urgently needed modernization and its own security. The division of urban and rural areas ensures that the countryside provides support for the cities, enables China to form a relatively complete industrial system, ensures national security, and takes an important step forward in the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. During the reform period, centering on the central task of economic construction, we started from rural reform and forced urban reform, stimulated the vitality of urban and rural development, consolidated the bottom line of people's livelihood security, initially realized the goal of "getting rich", and took another crucial step toward realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Since the Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, in view of the changes in the main contradictions in society, we have continuously made up for the shortcomings of rural development, focused on resolving the contradiction between the people's growing needs for a better life and unbalanced and inadequate development, and laid the foundation for realizing the goal of "strengthening up". In the new era, the Party Central Committee put forward the requirement of building a new type of urban-rural relationship between workers and peasants, which is an inherent requirement for realizing the second centenary goal and providing an important driving force for the realization of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

2. Handle urban-rural relations with an eye on the overall situation of economic and social development

The CPC's proper handling of urban-rural relations has a bearing on the overall situation of economic and social development and serves the overall situation of economic and social development.

During the construction period, industrialization should be realized as soon as possible and the construction should be focused on cities, which is the overall situation of economic and social development after the founding of New China. Focusing on the overall situation, the adjustment of policies and guidelines involving the relationship between urban and rural areas, such as the adjustment of the population system, social management, and economic system, has served the overall situation of economic and social development. During the reform period, speeding up reform and development, promoting urban and rural development with reform, and shortening the gap between urban and rural areas with development are the top priorities of economic and social development. Focusing on the overall situation, we have gradually promoted the reform of breaking the shackles of the urban and rural dual system, creating a Chinese miracle. Since the Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, properly handling the relationship between reform, development, and stability is the overall situation of economic and social development. In the new era, promoting the reform of institutional mechanisms around the integration of urban and rural development, narrowing the gap between urban and rural areas, and ensuring the harmony and stability of urban and rural society are important embodiments of serving the overall situation of economic and social development. Applying the system concept, properly handling the relationship between urban and rural areas, and ensuring that urban and rural relations serve the overall situation of economic and social development are important experiences of the party in handling and guiding urban-rural relations.

3. Adhering to the principle of "people first" is the purpose of handling urban-rural relations

The development ideology of "people first" has run through all the work and decision-making of the Communist Party of China since its founding. Allowing the people to live a happy life is the starting point and foothold of the party in handling urban-rural relations.

During the revolutionary period, imperialism, feudalism and bureaucratic capitalism were the three great mountains that weighed down on the people, and the people's basic needs for subsistence and security were difficult to meet. With the countryside as its base and the strength of the broad masses of peasants as its support, the Communist Party of China has understood the antagonism between urban and rural areas and used the confrontation between urban and rural areas to overthrow the three great mountains, realizing the people's mastery of their own affairs and ensuring the people's demand for survival and security. In the period of construction and reform, the main contradiction in society was transformed into "the contradiction between the people's demand for the establishment of an advanced industrial country and the reality of a backward agricultural country" and "the contradiction between the growing material and cultural needs of the people and backward social production." The Party Central Committee has formulated and implemented different urban and rural development policies, and has continuously met the people's demand for food and clothing and the growing material and cultural needs. Since the Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the main contradiction in society has been transformed into "a contradiction between the people's growing need for a better life and unbalanced and inadequate development." In the new era, the relationship between urban and rural areas is handled more closely around enhancing the people's sense of gain, happiness and security, and building a "new type of urban-rural relationship between workers and peasants promoting each other, complementing urban and rural areas, coordinated development, and common prosperity", that is, to let urban and rural residents enjoy a better environment and enjoy more development results. Safeguarding the fundamental interests of the people and enhancing the people's livelihood and well-being will enable the party to always win the support of the broad masses of the people in handling urban-rural relations.

4. Adhering to the Party's leadership is a solid guarantee for handling urban-rural relations

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that "the leadership of the Communist Party of China is the most essential feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics and the greatest advantage of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics." Over the past one hundred years, the party's evolution of urban-rural relations at every stage has all reflected the party's strong organizational leadership.

During the revolutionary period, under the leadership of the Party, the Chinese revolution had the most solid mass foundation. In handling the relationship between urban and rural areas, we paid attention to mobilizing the enthusiasm of the peasants to participate in the agrarian revolution, encouraged the masses to carry out mutual assistance and cooperation, and encouraged the establishment of mutual aid organizations such as the "work change team" and the "work team", which effectively ensured the smooth flow of government decrees. During the construction period, grass-roots party organizations extended to the countryside, and the organizational strength of rural grass-roots party organizations in organizing party members and the masses was continuously improved, ensuring the implementation of the decision-making and deployment of the party central committee and strengthening rural management services. During the reform period, the Party Central Committee gradually adjusted and improved the relationship between urban and rural areas through a series of policies, clarified the direction of urban and rural development, and the Party's leadership ensured that various policies were quickly implemented. Since the Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, it is precisely by relying on the organizational system of connecting the upper and lower levels and implementing effectively, and the working mechanism of "grasping the implementation at one level and grasping the implementation at each level" to ensure the implementation of the Party Central Committee's strategy for rural revitalization and the institutional mechanism for urban-rural integration. Strengthening the centralized and unified leadership of the Party Central Committee is a powerful guarantee for properly handling the relationship between urban and rural areas.

5. Adhering to the combination of top-level design and respecting grass-roots exploration is an effective way to deal with urban-rural relations

Urban-rural relations involve the interests of multiple subjects, as well as regions with different characteristics, and the handling of urban-rural relations must adhere to local conditions. In handling urban-rural relations, the party adheres to the principle of combining top-level design with respect for grass-roots exploration, ensuring that urban-rural relations remain generally good and controllable. During the revolutionary period, the Party Central Committee attached great importance to "seeking truth and seeking truth, and integrating theory with practice." During the construction period, the establishment and adjustment of the relationship between urban and rural areas is the result of the top-level design of the Party Central Committee and the exploration and practice of the grass-roots level. During the reform period, grassroots practice exploration created experience for reform and rose to the top-level design, which promoted the smooth progress of reform. As General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Every breakthrough and development in the understanding and practice of reform and opening up comes from the practice and wisdom of the people. "Since the Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party has paid more attention to the combination of top-level design and grass-roots exploration. Adhering to the effective combination of top-level design and respecting grass-roots exploration is an effective method of reform, and it is also an important criterion that the party has always followed in handling urban-rural relations.

IV. Important Enlightenment of the Communist Party of China in Handling Urban-Rural Relations

The integrated development of urban and rural areas in China is the general starting point for coordinating the promotion of new-type urbanization and rural revitalization, and is an important part of socialist modernization. The important experience of the CPC in correctly handling urban-rural relations since the founding of the Communist Party of China a hundred years ago has important enlightenment for continuously promoting high-quality economic and social development.

1. It is necessary to correctly handle the relationship between productive forces and production relations

Emancipating and developing the social productive forces is the essential requirement of socialism, a major issue that the Chinese Communists have explored and focused on solving, and a fundamental magic weapon for building a rational urban-rural relationship and promoting the integration and development of urban and rural areas. Marxism believes that the productive forces are the most active and revolutionary factors for promoting social progress, and the productive forces and production relations interact and restrict each other, dominating the entire process of social development. Since the founding of the Cpc a hundred years ago, the Communist Party of China has led the people to unswervingly liberate and develop the social productive forces, continuously adjust the institutional mechanisms for urban and rural development according to the development of the productive forces, and build a social relationship of integrated development between urban and rural areas. Standing at the historical intersection of the "two hundred years," we must consciously stimulate the vitality of the development of social productive forces through the adjustment of production relations, so that the socialist modernization construction with Chinese characteristics can develop more in line with the law.

2. It is necessary to correctly handle the relationship between reform and development and stability and security

Moving steadily and far in correctly handling the relationship between reform, development, and stability is a profound summary of the experience of reform and opening up. The reform of urban-rural relations has played an important role in correctly handling the relationship between reform, development, stability and security. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out at the conference celebrating the 40th anniversary of reform and opening up that China is a big country and must not make subversive mistakes on fundamental issues. In the adjustment of urban-rural relations, the Communist Party of China has unified reform, development, and stability, taken reform and innovation as the fundamental driving force, made overall plans for development and security, promoted the reform of the rural system, and ensured that the peasant masses shared the fruits of development. China has entered a new stage of development, in the face of the complicated international situation and the arduous and heavy domestic reform, development, and stability tasks, it is necessary to correctly handle the relationship between reform and development and stability and security, adhere to the same direction, the road is not biased, and the intensity is not reduced, accelerate the construction of a new development pattern with the domestic cycle as the main body and the domestic and international dual cycles promoting each other, and ensure that the reform and opening up in the new era will go more steadily and further.

3. It is necessary to correctly handle the relationship between the government and the market

The role of the market and the role of the government are complementary, mutually reinforcing and complementary. Correctly handling the relationship between the government and the market is the core of economic structural reform and the core of promoting the reform of urban-rural relations. The countryside has a natural disadvantage compared with the city, which also determines that while its development relies on market forces, government support and guidance are crucial. The CPC deepened the reform of the institutional mechanism for the integration of urban and rural development, which not only enabled the market to play a decisive role in the allocation of resources, but also better played the role of the government, and promoted the free flow of urban and rural factors, the rational allocation of resources and the coordinated development of industries. To promote socialist modernization, we must persist in improving the market mechanism and improve the efficiency and competitiveness of the allocation of resource elements of enterprises. On the basis of respecting market laws, we must use reform to stimulate market vitality, use policies to guide market expectations, use planning to clarify the direction of investment, and use the rule of law to regulate market behavior.

4. It is necessary to correctly handle the relationship between the central and local governments

Giving play to the enthusiasm of both the central and local governments is the basic principle of the CPC in promoting socialist modernization and is also the basic strategy of the CPC to guide the reform of urban-rural relations. Looking at the great practice of the reform of urban-rural relations since the founding of the Party in the past hundred years, especially since the founding of New China, from the implementation of rural household co-production contracting and the sudden emergence of township and town enterprises to the reform of the household registration system and the establishment of a basic public service system, from the strategy of new-type urbanization to winning the battle against poverty and the comprehensive implementation of the strategy of rural revitalization, from the division of urban and rural areas to the integration of urban and rural areas, all embody the basic requirements of giving play to the two enthusiasms. In order to better meet the people's growing needs for a better life and strive to solve the problem of unbalanced and insufficient development, it is necessary to adhere to the central and local chess games, improve the institutional mechanism that gives full play to the enthusiasm of the central and local governments, build a clear, smoothly run and dynamic work system from the central to the local level, and promote the modernization of the national governance system and governance capabilities.

The Nineteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed to establish and improve the institutional mechanism and policy system for the integrated development of urban and rural areas; the Fifth Plenary Session of the Nineteenth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China proposed to strengthen the use of work to supplement agriculture and bring the countryside with cities, and promote the formation of a new type of urban-rural relationship between workers and peasants that promote each other, urban and rural areas complement each other, coordinate development, and common prosperity. Building a new type of urban-rural relationship and promoting the integration of urban and rural development are the new goals and general requirements of China's urban and rural development in the new era, and are the new achievements and new directions that guide urban and rural development since the founding of the Communist Party of China in the past hundred years. Standing at the historical intersection of the "two hundred years", starting a new journey of comprehensively building a socialist modern country, marching toward the second centenary goal, and promoting the synchronization of the "four modernizations" of new industrialization, informatization, urbanization, and agricultural modernization, we must better handle the relationship between urban and rural areas, focus on building a new type of urban-rural relationship between workers and peasants, and ensure that the broad masses of the people share the fruits of reform and development.

This article is excerpted from Regional Economic Review, No. 3, 2021 (Compiled by Zhang Zi).