Chapter 46 Not the end - the curtain is opening

Not long after we finished the second draft of this work, an exciting news came: On November 8, 2002, the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China was held in the expectation of hundreds of millions of people. This is the first congress held by the Communist Party of China in the new century; it is also a very important congress held under the new situation of starting to implement the third-step strategic deployment of socialist modernization. At the meeting, building a well-off society in an all-round way became a hot topic among representatives.People began to pay attention to the rural areas of China.Because the key to building a well-off society in an all-round way lies in the countryside; the "three rural" issues have become a "bottleneck" in our overall building a well-off society today!

Next, on January 6, 2003, the Central Rural Work Conference was held in Beijing.From a formal point of view, it is a "regular meeting" because the Central Rural Work Conference is held every year, but this "regular meeting" is indeed extraordinary. It further emphasizes the need to form a comprehensive system for coordinating urban and rural economic and social development. It is no longer the original "piecemeal", which is considered to be a "major new idea" for China to solve rural problems in the new century and new stage, and its sharp point is obviously the "dual structure" of urban and rural areas; the meeting put forward new requirements, This is to make the "three rural" issues the "top priority" of the work of the whole party.It is emphasized that: From the perspective of my country's future development, the most arduous and arduous task of realizing the grand goal of building a well-off society in an all-round way lies in the countryside.Without the well-off of farmers, there will be no well-off for the people of the whole country; without the modernization of the countryside, there will be no modernization of the country.

At the meeting, Hu Jintao made an important speech on solving the problems of agriculture, rural areas and farmers, and realizing the grand goal of building a well-off society in an all-round way; Wen Jiabao also made arrangements for the current and future agricultural and rural work; the newly elected Central Political Bureau Members of the Standing Committee Zeng Qinghong, Huang Ju, and Li Changchun all attended the meeting. Rational thinking and a realistic spirit are leading the future of China's reform! This is the greatest good news for China's 900 million farmers! Then, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Notice on Doing a Good Job in Employment Management and Services for Farmers Migrating to the Cities" in the form of Document No. 1 in 2003.This is another generous gift from the new Party Central Committee to Chinese farmers on the occasion of the coming of the new year. The "fair treatment" that 900 million farmers have been looking forward to for many years has finally been promised in the central document.Many of the provisions in the document basically refer to the restoration of "national treatment" to farmers.

Anyone who is familiar with China's rural reform will never forget the history of the "five No. 1 documents".From 1982 to 1986, the Party Central Committee formulated and promulgated major policies on rural work in the form of No. 1 documents for five consecutive years. Enthusiasm, thus making a major breakthrough in China's rural work.The reappearance of the "No. 1 Document" makes people really feel the concern of the new Party Central Committee on the "three rural" issues. In March 2003, the "two sessions" that attracted worldwide attention were held in Beijing. It can be said that the "three rural" issues once again became the most concerned topic of this "two sessions".At this meeting, "Huang Zongxi's Law", which originally belonged only to academic language, was recounted by the new Premier Wen Jiabao, and it became widely known. "Communists will definitely get out of the vicious circle of Huang Zongxi's law!" Premier Wen's words showed the courage and determination of the new government to solve the "three rural" issues.

On April 3, 2003, the sixteenth day that Wen Jiabao officially took office as the Premier of the State Council, the new central government held a teleconference on the national rural tax and fee reform pilot work.The fast action, the fast pace, and doing what you say is also reminiscent of a confession he made when answering reporters' questions on the day of his inauguration: "I am a gentle person, but at the same time, I am a person with conviction and determination. Those who dare to be responsible.” He solemnly announced in this teleconference: “The central government has decided to roll out the pilot reform of rural taxes and fees nationwide this year. This is a major decision to deepen rural reform and promote rural development. "

This is indeed another major decision with symbolic significance.It can be considered that this decision is a milestone in the deepening of the reforms that the two successive governments have focused on. Of course, it is not difficult to see from Premier Wen Jiabao's speech that the deepening of the reform is not only reflected in the expansion of the pilot area to the whole country, but also in some new information revealed this time.One of the most direct policy changes is that the tax on special agricultural products will be completely abolished! Jin Renqing, the new Minister of Finance, pointed out in an interview: cities should feed back to the countryside, and industry should feed back to agriculture.Solving the "three rural" issues is one of the main goals of the current government.Although our country is not yet very rich, and it is not yet possible for the rural areas to fully enjoy public finances, we must move forward unswervingly and gradually increase financial investment in this area from now on.In order to adjust the distribution of national income in a direction more favorable to agriculture, rural areas and farmers, the central government has determined that the increase in expenditures on culture, health and education should be focused on agriculture!

In just over a month, on June 1, an encouraging news spread from the land of Anhui: Anhui Province took the lead in carrying out the pilot reform of the grain system again after the tax and fee reform in the whole country, and fully liberalized the purchase price of grain. At the same time, comprehensively adjust the way of grain subsidies, changing the original indirect subsidies through the national grain system to direct subsidies to farmers in accordance with internationally accepted practices. This kind of reform with grain subsidies as the core content can be said to be a major breakthrough in my country's agricultural policy!

Another month later, General Secretary Hu Jintao put forward the important idea of ​​"establishing the party for the public and governing for the people" in his "July 1 Speech", requiring leading cadres at all levels to "use power for the people and love for the people." The interests of the people should be put above everything else, and always keep in mind that "the interests of the people are no small matter".Immediately afterwards, on August 30, the new Standing Committee of the National People's Congress passed the Administrative Licensing Law.This is groundbreaking legislation.In the past, from the central government to the local government, there were not many administrative approval items, and one more license would result in an additional fee. The fees were not disclosed and transparent, and the common people did not know about them.With this important new law, not only can the corruption that arises in the process of power operation be solved from the source, but it also has a legal system guarantee for further solving the "three chaos" in the countryside.

This series of major measures is undoubtedly a kind of "repair" to the "flaws" of the original reform.Perhaps, "Repair" is not as dazzling and exciting as "Breakthrough". It really lets people see that the new government's realistic and pragmatic policy picture is gradually unfolding. Of course, we have also noticed that the word "pilot" is still retained in the promotion of rural tax and fee reform to the whole country, so it can be foreseen that this great rural reform has been determined to be "promoted as a whole and carried out in a coordinated manner". , will still go through a rather complicated and difficult process.

Today, the reform of China's rural areas has undoubtedly entered the most critical and difficult period: there is no retreat behind, there are minefields under the feet, and the reform has touched the deep-seated ownership issues and touched the relationship between the economic system and the political system. The combination of problems is unprecedentedly difficult. However, the formation of diversified social interest subjects has given our reform and opening up today an unprecedented social foundation and deepening power, and an irreversible trend. In particular, there is a new Party Central Committee headed by Hu Jintao that can be expected. , we have no reason not to be full of confidence, and together with 900 million farmer friends, we will meet another magnificent sunrise in Chinese history!

Started writing in October 2001 October 2003 third draft Reposted from "Contemporary" magazine, Issue 6, 2003, the book has 340,000 words and has been published by People's Literature Publishing House.