Vital factors for Chinese rural development: the reach of the state and lineage identity in villages

Abstract

This paper, by a case study of Gao Village, examines how two factors, i.e. lineage identity and the reach of the state, impact on local governance in rural China. The paper argues that the withdrawal of the state was detrimental to local governance in the first 20 or so years of post-Mao rural China. With the abolition of agricultural tax and various levies, and the introduction of rural subsidies, rural healthcare and medical care insurances and some investment in rural infrastructure since the beginning of the twentyfirst century the return of the state has improved local governance. The paper also argues that the restoration, and in many ways the reinventing, of Chinese tradition of lineage identity makes village elections difficult to be accountable.