East Asia Watch

Why China needs richer farmers

If the wide rural-urban wealth gap is not dealt with, it will be hard for the government to boost domestic spending to power the economy

A farmer plows a field with a cattle in Yangshuo county, China, on July 17, 2020. PHOTO: REUTERS
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Since March, thousands of farmers in China's Shandong province have had their homes demolished at short notice under a plan to move them into new, modern homes.

Those who refused to sign agreements for the demolition were detained. The demolition took place before relocation, so people were forced to look for their own temporary housing while their houses were being built. Some of the displaced with nowhere else to go built makeshift housing on the edge of their fields.

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