ANALYSIS: ‘Forest to Farmland’ Signals China’s Return to a Planned Economy

ANALYSIS: ‘Forest to Farmland’ Signals China’s Return to a Planned Economy
Agricultural-management officials destroy crops. China's new "rural enforcers" have triggered public outrage. internet screenshot
David Chu
Ellen Wan
Updated:
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A burgeoning movement to return forests to farmland and the sudden arrival of heavy-handed rural enforcers are at the center of recent dramatic events in China.

China is making a major push to expand its arable land. The movement reverses years of ecological “farmland to forest” policies and includes the establishment of a new “Rural Comprehensive Administrative Law Enforcement Brigade.”  The agricultural management officers have quickly become unpopular for their thug-like tactics.

David Chu is a London-based journalist who has been working in the financial sector for almost 30 years in major cities in China and abroad, including South Korea, Thailand, and other Southeast Asian countries. He was born in a family specializing in Traditional Chinese Medicine and has a background in ancient Chinese literature.
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