Eleven hundred million people live in China today, most of them directly involved with or economically dependent on agricultural production. To know about the peasants and the rural areas is to know much about China. This book, written by Chinese experts, sets the scene with a description of the natural environment. Within this context, the components of agriculture are examined separately before being brought together in a consideration of the ten agricultural
regions of China. Each region is described in detail with particular emphasis on the problems faced in each.

The economic reforms of 1979 onward have brought substantial changes, and these are discussed in detail. The book concludes with a summary of the characteristics and problems of Chinese agriculture and the prospects for the future as seen by a Chinese agronomist today.