The Impact Of Institutional Change Of China's Urbanization Process

Urbanization is not only a basic way to solve China's three rural problems (that is, rural areas, agriculture and farmers), but also the only way to realize China's modernization. The key to carry out the strategy of urbanization in China and to speed up China's urbanization progress is to break with the institutional arrangement of the partition and the unequal between urban and rural areas, to realize the free and equal circulation of population and the factors of production between urban and rural areas.The highly centralized planned economic institution was the whole institutional frame that influenced China's urbanization progress before reform and opening up. The planned economic institution was served to the strategy that gave priority to heavy industry. In line with these, a series of specific institutions were formed which influenced on China's urbanization progress. The majors include as follows: the institutions of collective owned and collective run, the division between urban and rural areas, strict controlled circulation of household register, employment and social security that caused isolation and unequal between urban and rural areas, administration of high centralization of authority and local partition, and cities and towns settings that restricted towns development. This series of institutions that caused the partition and unequal between urban and rural areas had lasted for more than 20 years and had become the fundamental reason that China's urbanization progress had been at a standstill for a long period. A series of institutional changes have gradually closed the rift of urban and rural development under the traditional institutions since reform and opening up, which provide larger spaces for the development and space collection of non-agricultural industry and rural population entry into urban areas that push forward China's urbanization progress forcefully. The reform of rural land institution increases rural productivity greatly, adds the farmers' accumulation and provides a certain economic basis for the farmers' entry into cities and towns to be engaged in non-agricultural industry. At the same time, the reform causes it to be inevitable that large amount of rural surplus laborers entry into cities and towns to look for jobs. The reform of town land institution promotes the development of real estate market, it becomes possible for the farmers to buy houses, work and live in towns. Gradually, the series of institutional changes of household register, employment, social security break up the special interests of residents in towns. The discrimination of towns against rural residents has weakened greatly, and a mechanism that farmers are admitted has begun to form. Since reform and opening up, many problems that have existed and accumulated in the urbanization progress show the limitations and insufficiency of institutional changes. A series of institutional unequal between urban and rural residents still exist, the changes are not powerful and harmonious enough. There are some understandings about institutional changes that mislead people waiting for being clarified. The limitations and insufficiency restrict the healthy development of urbanization and tackle its progress.This thesis selects institutions of land, household register, employment, social security, administration, and setting standard for cities and towns as the objects of research. The thesis investigates the changes of these institutions and their influences on China's urbanization progress since reform and opening up. At last, it puts forward the writer's thoughts on how to promote the further institutional changes.