China Unleashes Its Farmers

Six years ago, Sun Zeshun was toiling on his farm in China’s coastal province of Jiangsu growing rice and wheat, earning about 19,800 yuan ($3,000) in a good year. He seemed doomed to a life of grinding poverty.

Then in 2012, Sihong, a county of about 1 million people, launched a pilot project to test a new land reform policy. For the first time in the more than 60 years the Communist Party had ruled China, farmers were permitted to rent out their land, as long as it continued to be used for agriculture. Sun leased his to a commercial operation called Jiangsu Meiyang Ecological Farming & Forestry Co. and got a job as a roofing contractor. His income almost doubled, to about 37,000 yuan a year, including the 7,000 yuan he earned in rent. Two years ago he bought a new house and a 110,000-yuan Changan-brand SUV. “Life is much better than before,” says Sun, chatting on a village street near his home. “I have more freedom, and my income is less affected by the weather and other uncertainties.”