The underbelly of China's economic prowess is the treatment of those living in the country. They don't get adequate medical care. They earn much, much less than their urban counterparts. Their land is taken away from them without adequate compensation.
In March the government acknowledged the land problem and announced it would begin taking steps to rectify it. A recent study by the Rural Development Institute, an organization working to increase land ownership in developing countries, offered some additional insights into the magnitude of the problem. Of the people interviewed in the study (which, by the way, had some help from the Chinese government and Beijing's Renmin University) 27% reported at least one incidence of government landtaking since the late '90s. The land was taken not only for public purposes, e.g., roadbuilding, but also for private purposes, such as building a factory. Only 20% of those whose land was taken could negotiate the purchase price. The law specifies that each household is to receive a land contract, less than half do.
The study found that the problem is mainly one of enforcing the laws. Where the laws are enforced, conditions are better. I suspect that China has to replace a lot of the local officials who are responsible for screwing the farmers.
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