The effects of China's rural industry on agricultural environment

Rural industry is the fastest growing sector in China's economy and made up 27.52% of the GNP in 1990. The development of rural industry not only enhances the peasants’ living standard, but also demonstrates the advantages and potential of a new ownership system. Along with the development of the rural industry, however, some serious environmental problems have emerged in the agriculture. Traditional agriculture and farmers are rapidly disappearing in the developed rural industrial areas. Due to some unique characteristics of rural industry, such as its wide distribution, small size and frequent production change, a set of new environmental problems have arisen. These problems threaten a vast area of China's best cropping land. Solving those problems is beyond the capacity of current agricultural and industrial policies, because these problems are directly related to China's political system. The author proposes a set of strategies and policies that, under the current political constraints, may mitigate the negative effects of rural industry on the agricultural environment.