社会主义新农村

Socialist New Countryside

To address the increasingly conspicuous imbalance in the country's economic landscape, the fourth generation leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has gone to great lengths to correct the urban-rural divide. "Socialist New Countryside" is to date the most comprehensive solution it has prescribed.

The concept first appeared in early 2005 in a major policy paper on rural development. The CPC-proposed a blueprint for the country's 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10). It portrays the "new countryside" as featuring "advanced production, a well-to-do life, civilized folkways, a neat look, and democratic management". As part of the campaign, the central authorities are reorienting public finance to support rural development programs.