Lure of a better life tempts Chinese off the land

By Zhou Xin

HAINING, China (Reuters) - Tales of protests by angry peasants whose land has been seized for a pittance by unscrupulous officials are commonplace in China.

But even as concern grows about the disappearance of arable land to feed 1.3 billion people, less noticed is the eagerness of other farmers, often in richer parts of China, to cash in their land and say goodbye to back-breaking toil in the fields.

Here in Haining, a rural town about 100 km (60 miles) west of Shanghai in the Yangtze River Delta, more and more warehouses and workshops share the land with mulberry trees and rice paddies.

"Just look at these fields. Can you see anybody under 30 laboring on the land?" asked Zhou Weigang, a 53-year-old farmer, as he pointed to a flat expanse dotted by houses. "Planting the fields just has no future."

Unlike farmers in other parts of China who regard their land as a safe harbor in case of hardship, Zhou and his neighbors are happy to sell.

His family recently received 23,000 yuan ($3,300) when the local community sold a parcel of land on which a chemical plant will be built.

"Land has to be turned into homes and factories," Zhou said. "It's called development."

Five years ago, Zhou thought differently. Land was still important to him: the five members of his family earned the lion's share of their income from farming.

But now he is confident about a future without land. The local private economy is booming, easing employment concerns.

Zhou's son is a small merchant, buying and selling scrap leather that he transports in a newly purchased van.

His daughter-in-law, like most of the young women in Haining, works in a local leather garment factory earning a handsome monthly salary of 3,000 yuan.

His wife works at a small private workshop, and Zhou himself took a job at a plastic recycling works next door to his home.

The four monthly incomes are enough to finance a comfortable life away from the land. "My grandson will never be a farmer," said Zhou, referring to his seven-year old grandson.

URBAN ENCROACHMENT

The creeping industrialization of the Yangtze River Delta highlights the conflict between China's determination to remain largely self-sufficient in food and the relentless march of urbanization, which holds the key to rising living standards.