The analysis presented here is based on the keynote speech discussing the most recent developments in rural policy on urban-rural integration in China delivered in Chinese by Professor Ye Xingqing at the Ninth European Conference on Agriculture and Rural Development in China (ECARDC9) held at the University of Leeds in the UK on 3-5 April 2009. Professor Ye’s paper provides a comprehensive overview of the main initiatives, their rationale and their context, including some of the debates surrounding them. Professor Ye, who is an invited keynote speaker of ECARDC9 and the director-general of the Department for Rural Economy, Research Office of the State Council, People’s Republic of China, has been personally involved in the process of formulating these policy initiatives.

Translated from Chinese by Prof. Flemming Christiansen, professor in Chinese Studies, Department of East Asian Studies, University of Leeds and also Director of National Institute of Chinese Studies, White Rose East Asia Centre, United Kingdom.