China’s Counter-Urbanization

Since 2003, China has embarked on a slow path of rediscovering the countryside with a program that attempted to address a dramatic economic gap with the cities. After more than twenty years and in particular after the end of the Covid-19 pandemic, the countryside has returned to being, at least ideally, the incarnation of ancestral and salvific lifestyles. As Anna Paola Pola well described, “When at the 16th National Congress of the CCP, in 2003, the then President Hu Jintao sanctioned the party’s commitment to addressing the crisis and rural development, the debate around the “three rural issues” – farmers, villages and agriculture – had already spread widely throughout the country. The reflection on the “three issues” identified causes and solutions to the crisis well beyond the rural space, calling into question urban policies and, more generally, the country’s development model itself. Since then, the measures implemented for the socio-economic development of the countryside have followed one another at a rapid pace until the historic declaration by Xi Jinping who, in February 2021, recognized the overcoming of the minimum poverty threshold in all rural counties. Since then, more and more urban residents have decided to definitively abandon the frenetic and unhealthy life of the cities to enjoy the amenities of rural life. A real “counter-urbanization”, not without critical issues, given that if the influx of new resources and talents from the cities has undoubtedly had a positive impact on the Chinese countryside, this phenomenon has led to strong tensions within traditional Chinese rural society.

A study conducted by a group of researchers from the Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications and Nanjing University, based on data collected in the eastern province of Jiangsu between 2021 and 2022 and published in January 2024 in the journal Humanities & Social Sciences Communications, reveals that this migratory counter-phenomenon mainly involved “Citizens belonging to the middle class, aged between 38 and 60 and with a medium-high cultural profile. Of heterogeneous origin, most reached the rural villages of Jiangsu following the Covid-19 pandemic and then settled there permanently”. The reasons that pushed them to move to the countryside are many, but for the researchers the desire to escape the frenetic and alienating pace of the city to lead a more balanced, healthy, and humanly more fulfilling lifestyle certainly prevailed. Moreover, thanks to the progress in the transport system and the efficiency of delivery services, distances have been reduced and these returning migrants can now enjoy the benefits of life in the countryside without giving up the main comforts of the cities. “Another factor that has had a decisive influence on this choice is the opportunities that the countryside offers to those who decide to start new and profitable entrepreneurial activities. In this sense, the entrepreneurship of new migrants has been facilitated mainly by the accessibility of rent prices, which although constantly increasing, are still lower than those of the cities” explained the researchers.

Today in China, in fact, investments and therefore job opportunities in rural tourism are multiplying, restaurants, cafes, wellness clubs and bed & breakfasts are opening, which often offer zero-mile food and experiences in contact with nature, such as picking fruit and vegetables. These are increasingly popular forms of entertainment, appreciated above all by an urban clientele eager to relax in the countryside for a weekend or spend their holidays there. Other local entrepreneurs have instead dedicated themselves to organic farming, sometimes combining cultivation with parallel activities such as selling products online, guided tours of farms and environmental education courses. With their more relaxed atmosphere, the countryside has also become the ideal place for numerous artists and artisans who have set up their own workshops or sales points there. These new opportunities have not only allowed natives to find employment close to home, slowing the flow of migration towards major urban centres, but are also convincing groups of so-called ongmingong (literally “farmer-workers”) to return to their village of origin, after having spent the last years of their lives as precarious workers in the cities. As often happens at every latitude, however, the presence of new residents is not always well received by locals and even for researchers at the Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications and the University of Nanjing, the process of integration between natives and migrants is often difficult. This aspect is certainly influenced by the differences in the way of thinking

are, in style and habits of life, due to the different socio-cultural background that distinguishes the two groups. Unlike migrants, natives tend to favor relationships within the family sphere and support an almost Confucian vision of social relationships, based among other things on the patriarchal system and respect for the elderly. As AsiaNews also recalls, “Anchored to the traditional values ​​of Chinese culture, rural residents have sometimes accused newcomers of not taking into account the principles of fengshui when renovating buildings, thus harming the harmony of the village. While migrants, who consider the ancient geomantic art to be mere superstition, do not accept interference in their choices, just as they do not like criticism of their aesthetic preferences, which according to locals would destroy the charm and authenticity of the rural environment”.

Another issue at the center of the disputes between the two groups concerns land and possession of a rural residence permit. In fact, new residents are only allowed to rent the rights to use the plots by entering into agreements directly with the villagers who, however, do not provide them with any legal protection. This means that when the contract is renewed, migrants risk losing everything they have invested in in an instant. According to a study published in February 2024 on Habitat International, it is precisely this system that protects the interests of locals and the stability of the countryside, limiting the intrusion of capital from medium and high-income groups and avoiding radical changes in rural society. This is the reason why in China the process of counter-urbanization has not yet led to a transformation of the socio-economic fabric as in Europe or the United States. It is difficult to establish whether the phenomenon in question is more of an aid or an obstacle to the rural revitalization strategy, but it certainly represents an interesting challenge for the future of the Chinese countryside. In the meantime, however, today there are thousands of historical villages officially recognized on a national scale, while 30 Chinese villages are included among the properties declared World Heritage by UNESCO, with more than 75 potential candidacies in the National List. To these is added the highest number in the world of GIAHS (Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems) rural systems promoted by FAO. A great result!