A DAY’S WORK: In this photo, a farmer plows his field in Xujiazhai Village in northwest China’s Qinghai Province. The householdcontract responsibility system has helped to advance the growth of the country’s agricultural production.
Thirty years ago, a reform in thecountryside was the sounding bellfor the start of China’s reform andopening up. Three decades later,the relationship among the state, rural col-lectives and farmers has been readjusted.The interests of farmers have been markedlyexpanded and are better protected, and themode of development for agriculture andrural areas has been completely changed.Most importantly, the number of rural resi-dents who live in absolute poverty has beenreduced to 15 million from 250 million.Chinese farmers have made the leap fromnot having enough food and clothing to lead-ing relatively comfortable lives.