Villagers' future blowing in the wind
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Confiscation of farmland, insufficient compensation and a lack of employable skills have left millions of Chinese farmers living difficult lives, with many losing confidence in their future, said a national political adviser on Wednesday.
About 60 percent of farmers who had lost their land found life more difficult after their land was confiscated, while only 30 percent said their life was not affected, said Zhang Yuanfu, a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee.
More than 80 percent worried about their future.
Zhang was speaking at the ongoing annual session of the political advisory body in the capital, quoting figures from a survey by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Among the 7,187 farmers polled, nearly 25 percent went to cities to make a living, 27 percent started small businesses, 25 percent chose to continue farming and 20 percent became unemployed, Zhang said.
Experts estimate that more than 40 million farmers have lost their farmland, and about 2 million became landless in each of the past five years, he said.
The NBS survey showed that among those who worried about their future, 73 percent worried about life in their senior years, 63 percent worried about their income, while 53 percent worried about their medical treatment, he said.
Under current Chinese law, rural land is collectively owned - and while farmers have the right to use the land, they cannot own it. The government has the right to confiscate that land in the public interest.
However, a recent survey released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences suggests that in reality many cases of confiscation are done for commercial reasons.
