Since the late 1970s, China has experienced the most rapid social and economic changes in world history. Over 200 million rural inhabitants were lifted out of absolute poverty and tens of millions became wealthier than the average urban resident.This book offers an authoritative and in-depth analysis of the social and economic changes that have swept through the Chinese countryside. Topics covered include: land tenure and rural labour, social welfare, poverty alleviation, rural resettlement, food security, natural resource management and rural industrialization.