China's Current Social Security Function Of The Rural Land System

Land constitutes the very basic fabric of the rural economy in China. Of the vast population in China, most reside outside cities, whose livelihood depends heavily on how their land is used and managed. Land provides the infrastructure for the rural economy and its management forms the basis of rural welfare and social security. The current land use has increasingly fallen out of step with rural economic development and revealed many problems. This present study attempts to apply the perspective of viewing land use as a form of social security mechanism, explore its many problems, and offer some possible solutions.There are seven parts to this report: (1) theory and research questions; (2) hypotheses and research methodology; (3) a description of current changes in land use in China; (4) the intended and unintended consequences of the current land use system; (5) research findings from some countries and regions; (6) an empirical study of the land use in WU LI MIAO Village; and (7) policy recommendations for improving land use in China. Research methods used in this study include literature review, face-to-face interviews, and field observations. The paradigm of land use as a form of social security is advocated here, within a context of comparative experiences from other countries in their course of economic development. This study points out the many negative effects of current land use practices and argues for the establishment of a market-driven system that accelerates the exchange of land stewardship among farmers and encourages large-scale land management by individual households. In sum, the key to improve rural economy is to establish a social security system through commercializing land management and reducing farming population.This study seeks to make contributions in the following three specific areas: (1) the conceptualization of land use as a social security mechanism; (2) field research as a primary data collection method; and (3) policy recommendations based on empirical research.