Lesson 3 Land Reform

Implementation of the Land Reform Law of the People's Republic of China

After the founding of New China, land reform had not yet been carried out in the newly liberated areas, which accounted for more than 300 million people nationwide. According to the statistics published by the National Bureau of Statistics, landlords and rich peasants, who accounted for less than 7% of the total number of rural households before the land reform, occupied more than 50% of the total arable land, while poor peasants and hired peasants, who accounted for more than 57% of the total number of rural households, occupied only 14% of the total arable land and were in a state of landlessness and scarcity. The per capita arable land held by landlords is 20 to 30 times that of the poor and hired peasants, and there are a large number of landless and landless peasants in the countryside. This situation seriously hinders the development of the rural economy and Chinese society. The vast number of peasants urgently demanded land reform and access to land.

In 1950, the Central People's Government promulgated the Land Reform Law of the People's Republic of China, which provided for the abolition of the feudal land ownership system exploited by the landlords and the implementation of the peasant land ownership system. In the winter of the same year, land reform was carried out in batches throughout the country, confiscating land from landlords and distributing it to peasants who had no land or little land to cultivate; at the same time, landlords were also given a share so that they could cultivate their own land and earn their own living. By the end of 1952, except for some minority areas, the land reform was basically completed on the whole mainland. About 300 million peasants who had no land and little land were given about 700 million mu of land and a large amount of farming tools, livestock and houses; the annual rent of more than 30 billion kilograms of grain paid to landlords was also waived. The peasants were truly liberated.

Significance of the land reform

The completion of the land reform completely destroyed the feudal land system that had existed in China for more than 2,000 years and eliminated the landlord class; the peasants were turned over to the land and became the masters of the land. This led to the consolidation of people's power and greatly liberated the rural productive forces. Agricultural production was rapidly restored and developed, preparing the country for industrialization.

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