The pattern of economic development since 1949 in Mainland China suggests that the economy has tended to grow after a period of industrial growth, whereas the economy has tended to suffer a severe setback following a decline in agricultural production. Therefore, a key issue on the mainland has been how to accelerate the growth of agricultural development and reach self-sufficiency in agricultural production, in order to remove the obstacles that hinder continued economic growth.
To that end, Mainland China has introduced many policies and institutional changes in agricultural production under the guidelines of socialism, namely, land reform, cooperative farming, collective production, and, more recently, the responsibility system. These policies have been accompanied by structural changes in agricultural production which have come about as a result of embracing such policies or institutional changes, and which have laid a foundation for further agricultural growth.
However, has the production structure been transformed in such a way that it has become a suitable vehicle for China’s agricultural growth? Conversely, has this kind of structure created any new problems in agricultural production? What are the factors that have affected the transformation of the production structure in Mainland China? Why have they affected it?
To answer these questions, this paper first of all examines the structural changes that have taken place in Mainland China’s agricultural production by means of analyzing related input-output data. Secondly, this paper attempts to determine what are the factors that have restricted or accelerated the process of structural transformation. Factors found to play a significant role, apart from the effects of policies and institutional changes, include population and income growth on the demand side, and productivity and changes in the mix of inputs on the supply side.
