Enlightened policies spread the wealth

Around Spring Festival, when China's farmers are preparing for next year's cultivation, the central government issues its well-known annual No 1 Document on rural issues.

Experts believe this year's document will be released near February and will determine the course of development for years to come. It will be particularly momentous, because it will address a policy shift allowing farmers to transfer land-use management rights at will.

To understand how critical this change is and how it will launch a new round of tremendous development in the countryside, one must turn back the pages of time to 30 years ago, when the household contract responsibility system was adopted.