How Should China Feed Itself?

Abstract When China embarked on economic reform in 1978, its agricultural sector began a transition from a central planning regime to a market¬ oriented household farming system. With the dismantling of the communes and the release of market forces, agricultural output increased dramatically in the first six years of reform. Food shortages disappeared rapidly. With the deepen¬ing of industrial reform since the mid 1980s, strong growth in food demand has continued.