Some Reflections on Solving the Problem of Rural Aging

Rural population aging is regarded as a global phenomenon and an inevitable outcome accompanying urbanization and industrialization. Young people are unwilling to stay in rural areas not only because agricultural returns are poor and incomes are low, but also because people yearn for a comfortable urban life and the pursuit of modernity. This is precisely why, even when rural incomes are higher than urban ones, many young people still choose to move to cities. It should be said that under the conditions of industrial civilization, rural population aging is an inevitable trend.

But we should recognize that today's world has entered a new era, namely the era of ecological civilization. While industrial civilization has created enormous wealth, it has also brought many insurmountable problems, among which the widening urban-rural gap, the hollowing out of rural areas, and population aging leading to rural decline are among its most prominent manifestations. Under the concept of ecological civilization, rural areas have taken on new connotations. In particular, General Secretary Xi Jinping's series of instructions on building beautiful villages, such as "see the mountains, see the water, remember the nostalgia" and "prudently cut trees, do not fill lakes, demolish fewer houses, and improve residents' living conditions as much as possible on the basis of the original village form," have pointed out a new direction for rural development. People are increasingly recognizing that rural areas have values that cities cannot replace, and some scholars have even proposed that rural areas are the root of ecological civilization. Urbanization does not take the elimination of rural areas as its premise, but rather seeks urban-rural integration based on complementary urban and rural functions, promoting shared prosperity between urban and rural areas. Recently, in the process of building beautiful villages, some places have put forward the slogan "rural areas make cities envious," precisely because they have seen the irreplaceable advantages of rural areas.

Based on typical experiences created in various places, under the concept of ecological civilization, overcoming the problem of rural aging requires attention to construction in three aspects.

First, the free flow of urban and rural factors must be promoted. In the past, we restricted urban population and implemented a strict urban-rural dual management system. It was very difficult for rural people to become urban residents, and rural people being bound to the land was considered one of the important reasons for rural backwardness and farmers' poverty. Under the influence of urbanization thinking, a one-sided view that cities are superior to rural areas emerged, and one-way flow measures oriented toward cities were adopted. A series of measures, such as encouraging farmers to buy homes in cities, encouraging farmers to transfer land and work in cities, and demolishing villages and merging villages to move farmers into apartment buildings, were all one-way flows, which intensified rural decline. In particular, some places advocated large-scale agriculture, transferred land to industrial and commercial capital, and developed large-scale wage-labor agriculture, severing the connection between farmers and the land and accelerating the departure of young farmers from the land. What is even worse is that some local governments encouraged industrial and commercial capital to take cultivated land without agriculture, and to take rural areas while excluding farmers. Wantonly encroaching on farmers' living space became an important factor accelerating rural aging. On the other hand, the path for people to return to their hometowns was also blocked. For example, idle rural homesteads are not allowed to be sold to urban people, which restricts the flow of urban people to the countryside, while at the same time demolishing villages and merging villages and reclaiming homesteads fundamentally cuts off people's path to return home.

A harmonious society should be one of two-way flow of urban and rural factors. Without rural population flowing to cities, there is no space for the development of modern agriculture; without urban people going to the countryside, it is very difficult to maintain rural vitality. We should both encourage rural population to enter cities and promote the process of urbanization, and also support urban population flowing to rural areas, especially university graduates aspiring to agricultural production, demobilized veterans, migrant workers, and relevant enterprises to start businesses in rural areas, promoting rural prosperity. Only with two-way urban-rural flow can there be a culture of rural worthies, can modern agriculture be developed, and can cities support rural areas, so that nostalgia has a reliable carrier rather than being eliminated.

Second, rural business forms must be innovated and rural employment promoted. If rural areas are to attract young people, in addition to having complete infrastructure and cultural development, they must also have good employment conditions so that young people can obtain relatively high incomes. Judging from successful experiences in various places at present, the following three business forms are effective in solving the problem of rural aging.

First, the formation of family farms has become an important vehicle for attracting young people to farm. Family farms are regarded as a typical form of moderate-scale operation suited to the characteristics of agriculture. Family farms retain the advantages of family management while also having moderate economies of scale, and they are also an important space for restoring excellent traditional agricultural culture. The scale of family farms can effectively increase farmers' incomes; the stability of family farms becomes a prerequisite for sustainable agricultural development and also creates conditions for agriculture to have successors.

Second, the development of rural tourism. Using rural natural environment, specialty products, folk culture, and other resources to develop tourism industries such as leisure, vacations, and experiences is regarded as an effective path for rural revitalization. Recently, business forms developed in the suburbs of Beijing, such as sightseeing, fruit picking, and homestays, have attracted large numbers of young people to employment. Many rural areas, by developing rural and agricultural tourism, restoring rural handicrafts, and reviving rural culture, have attracted migrant workers to return home and start businesses, prevented rural decline, and brought vitality and vigor to rural areas.

Third, the development of rural service industries. In addition to tourism services, the development of e-commerce has produced "Taobao villages," and the development of the agricultural social service system has promoted the formation of new occupational groups, such as professional teams in agricultural machinery services, agricultural science and technology services, cultural services, and rural brokers. The construction of rural social undertakings has promoted demand for rural talent in culture, health, education, domestic services, elderly care, and other areas.

To build rural areas, introducing enterprises and projects is necessary, but only projects that benefit farmers are beneficial to rural areas and can inject vitality into them. Projects that exclude farmers and help a small number of bosses get rich can only accelerate rural decline.

Third, build beautiful villages. The construction of beautiful villages in Beijing has been fruitful. In accordance with the requirements of "beautiful fields, beautiful villages, beautiful life, and beautiful culture," the construction of beautiful villages has been promoted. This has made suburban villages a harmonious and livable happy homeland for farmers and an employment countryside for increasing income and wealth, as well as a leisure paradise that urban residents yearn for. The construction of beautiful villages has solved the problems of farmers' employment and income growth, and solved the problem of villagers' living environment. When the people are prosperous and life is modernized, people naturally are unwilling to leave rural areas. Moreover, it has attracted urban people to start businesses in rural areas. The construction of beautiful villages is not about building a pretty rural shell; rather, it is about combining economic construction with cultural construction, integrating traditional culture with modern culture, and truly realizing what people call "rural areas make life better" and "rural areas make cities yearn more."