中国是个传统的农业大国，经过30年改革开放，农村人口减少了近三分之一，但仍占到了13亿总人口中的56%。“三农”问题（农业、农村和农民）依然是关系中国改革开放和经济社会发展全局的重大战略问题，是中国整个现代化进程中长期面临的问题。 30年前的冬天，位于中国中南部的安徽省小岗村的农民率先分田到户，实行农业“大包干”，拉开了中国农村改革开放的序幕。３０年来，中国的农业和农村发生了翻天覆地的变化，农村经济实现了从计划经济转变为市场经济的巨大转变；中国农业从传统农业迈向现代农业的新方向；国农民的生活水平有了明显的改善和提高。 家庭联产承包责任制的全面推行，废除人民公社制度，改变了单一的集体所有制结构，使得不适当的生产关系得到了改革；户籍限制的放松，清除了农民进城务工经商的体制障碍，促进了农村富余劳动力向非农产业和城市的转移，促进了乡镇企业、非公经济的快速发展，极大地解放和发展了生产力。这一切不仅有力推动了农村的快速发展和历史巨变，也推动了中国经济的繁荣和社会的进步。 由于突破了传统体制的束缚，1978年开始的农村改革成为中国农业发展的历史性转折点，也极大地促进了农民收入的增长。1978年至2007年，中国农民人均纯收入由134元（近70美元）增加到4140元（约600美元）。自2006年1月1日起，中国开始免征农业税，这个在中国已实行了长达2600年的这个古老税种从此退出历史舞台。农业税的废止，不仅每年可以给农民减轻将近500亿的经济负担，同时也昭示了社会的公平公正。 中国政府一向重视“三农”问题。30年里，中央政府先后出台了10个关于农村工作的重要文件"1号文件"。这些文件从政策上肯定了农村改革的成果，并以保障农民的物质利益，尊重农民的民主权利为核心，明确了发展农村商品经济，促进农业现代化，使农村繁荣富裕起来的发展目标。在2008年的1号文件中更是鲜明地提出解决农村民生问题。正是在这一个又一个中央1号文件指引下，中国农村发生了历史性变化。今年10月12日闭幕的十七届三中全会审议通过了《中共中央关于推进农村改革发展若干重大问题的决定》，对农业和农村工作进行了新的部署。 当然，中国农村的发展并不是一帆风顺的，还有许多不尽人意的地方。应该看到，相对于中国城镇的发展，中国农村的发展还很不均衡，一些地方的农民还没有摆脱贫困，农村的医疗保障体系还没有建立，农民看病难的问题还非常突出；许多农村地区的教育相对落后；进城务工的农民社会保障不健全，受当下的经济危机冲击，他们中许多人正面临着失业和回乡没有土地可经营的两难境地。因此，要让中国农民过上全面富裕的小康生活，中国还有很长的路要走。

China has traditionally been a big agriculture power. Although its rural population has been reduced by one third in the last 30 years, it still accounts for 56 percent of the country's total population. Agriculture, the countryside and farmers are still strategically significant to the country's overall reform and opening up as well as its economic and social development. But they also have posed longstanding problems during the course of China's modernization. During the winter of 1978, farmers in Xiaogang Village in east China's Anhui Province were the first to contract farmland to each household, starting China's rural reform. Over the past three decades, great changes have taken place in agriculture and the countryside. The rural economy has been transformed to a market-oriented one from a planned one. Agriculture has embarked on new paths toward modernization. And farmers' living standards have improved significantly. The rural reform has become a historic turning point in China's history of agricultural development by greatly increasing farmers' income. Between 1978 and 2007, the annual per-capita net income of Chinese farmers grew from 134 yuan ($20) to 4,140 yuan (about $600). As of January 1, 2006, China scrapped the agricultural tax, which had been levied in the country for 2,600 years. This policy not only has alleviated the economic burden on farmers to the tune of 50 billion yuan ($7.35 billion) annually, but also has demonstrated social equity and fairness. The government has always attached great importance to issues in relation to agriculture, the countryside and farmers. During the past 30 years, the Central Government issued various policy documents on rural development. These documents confirmed the achievements of rural reform and clarified the goals of the rural economy's development, promoting agricultural modernization and a thriving countryside with a focus on securing material benefits and respecting the democratic rights of farmers. A document published at the beginning of 2008 in particular emphasizes improving farmers' livelihoods. Under the guidance of these documents, great changes have taken place in China's countryside. China's process of rural development will not be entirely smooth sailing in the years ahead, and there continue to be many aspects of it that have failed to live up to people's expectations. Compared with urban development, the country's rural development is unbalanced. Farmers in some areas have not shaken off poverty. It is difficult for farmers to receive medical services. Education in some rural areas has fallen behind other parts of the country. Social security for migrant workers in cities is not sound. Under the current global economic crisis, many of these workers face unemployment and have no land to farm after they return home. Hence China still has a long way to go to ensure that farmers throughout the country can lead comfortable and prosperous lives.