On the Question of Agricultural Investment in China’s First Five-year Plan

Abstract

According to Comrade Li Fuchun’s report at the Second Session of the first National People’s Congress, Developing the National Economy on the Basis of the First Five-year Plan, investment in basic construction in China’s First Five-year Plan totals 42740 million yuan. Of this, the share of agriculture, water conservation and forestry is 3260 million yuan, equal to 7.6 per cent; and the share of the industrial sector is 24450 million yuan, which is equal to 58 per cent. In other words, industrial investment exceeds agricultural investment by more than six-and-a-half times. Some people have raised the question: is this kind of investment ratio appropriate? Is not agricultural investment too small? Agriculture is one of the major sectors of the Chinese economy and it is both natural and right that people are concerned about the problems of agricultural investment. The questions that people are raising must be answered. We will first do a little research on the question as to whether or not the industrial and agricultural investment ratios for China’s First Five-year Plan are appropriate.