The spirit of reform in Xiaogang Village

In November 1978, determined to fend off starvation, 18 villagers at Xiaogang Village, Fengyang County, Anhui Province, affixed their thumbprints to a contract. This led to the introduction of a major policy known as the household contract responsibility system, in which individual remuneration was linked to output, and served as a prelude to China's rural reform. The village has thus been hailed as the cradle of rural reform, and a symbolic position in China's reform process.

Over more than 40 years of rural reform, the courage of the first people to experiment, open a new path, and be pioneers in exploring the new territory of an "all-round contract system" has evolved into a spirit named after Xiaogang. It symbolizes the courage to create, take on responsibility, and keep on striving.

In April 2016, when Xi Jinping visited Xiaogang, he recalled this spirit in the context of China's experience over the past four decades. He reaffirmed China's determination to continue reform as a prerequisite for its future progress. 

小崗精神

1978年,安徽省鳳陽縣小崗村18位村民冒著生命危險,在一份生死契約上摁下鮮紅的手印,由此掀開了中國農村改革的序幕,推動了家庭聯產承包責任制的出臺,助力中國改革向縱深推進。小崗村因此被視為中國農村改革的主要發源地,在中國改革進程中具有重要的歷史地位。

在40多年農村改革發展實踐中,當年“敢闖、敢試、敢為人先”的“大包干精神”經過不斷豐富,逐漸沉淀和凝練為“敢于創造、敢于擔當、敢于奮斗”的小崗精神。

2016年4月,習近平來到小崗村調研,重溫“小崗精神”,再憶改革歷程,再釋改革決心。他強調,唯改革才有出路,改革要常講常新。