The National Government's Policy of "Supporting Workers by Agriculture"

First of all, some major reform measures have been taken in agriculture.

Since the implementation of measures such as rent reduction in 375, land release in 40 years and land to the tiller in 42 years, a series of industrial cultivation plans have been launched one after another. While opening up transportation and developing electricity, private enterprises are encouraged to focus on developing the textile industry and give priority to people's livelihood construction such as ready-to-eat food and clothing. Since 40 years of economic aid from the United States, the first four-year economic construction plan began in 42 years, and the government made an incentive investment.

/kloc-the second four-year economic construction plan of 0/946.

The Third Four-year Economic Construction Plan in 50 Years of the Republic of China

Until 1954, the fourth four-year economic construction plan, the United States announced the suspension of American aid.

On the other hand, from the perspective of the employment population structure,

At the initial stage of recovery, the employment in the agricultural sector accounted for more than 60% of the total employment.

In the early 1940s, agriculture still accounted for 56.7% of the employed population, service industry accounted for 27.0%, and industry only accounted for 16.3%. By 1949, the proportion of agriculture decreased to 50.2%, industry increased to 20.5%, and service industry increased to 29.3%.

In the 1950s, the labor force in the agricultural sector was gradually saturated, and the growth rate of agricultural employment slowed down, so we vigorously developed labor-intensive industries and created a large number of employment opportunities. By 1959, the proportion of agricultural employment in total employment dropped to 36.7%, while the proportion of industry and service industry rose to 27.9% and 35.4% respectively.

From the structure of manpower, we can clearly see the contrast between the rise and fall of agriculture and industry and commerce.

In addition, finding an article is also worthy of reference.

Among them, the "import substitution" policy is mentioned.

Maybe this is the answer you want.

Step on agriculture and develop industry.

After the war, the state deprived farmers of their surplus means of production through various systems and institutions, and rice planting and sugarcane were the main axes of agricultural economy at that time. As mentioned earlier, the exploitation of farmers' fruits enables the government to master grain, reduce wages by lowering rice prices and earn foreign exchange to import industrial raw materials, which is an important key to industrial development. Therefore, after being systematically deprived by the government, the fruits of development in the agricultural sector are transferred to the industrial sector, which is the basis of industrialization in Taiwan Province Province today. Next, let's take a closer look: how the stripped agricultural surplus is transferred to industry to promote industrial development; And what role did American aid play in the process of industrial development?

1 background-foreign exchange crisis

1949 When the National Government moved to Taiwan, the population of Taiwan Province Province increased by nearly two million, which made the originally chaotic economic situation worse, with inflation, food shortage and foreign exchange shortage. Since the 1950s, inflation has been effectively controlled through the reform of the monetary system, and agriculture that has undergone farmland reform has also recovered rapidly from the post-war period, with improved productivity and reduced food pressure. However, the problem of foreign exchange shortage still exists. Without foreign exchange, the government can neither import industrial production equipment and raw materials for industrial recovery and production; It is also impossible to import the necessities of people's livelihood and supply the soaring population on the island. For the ruling authorities, the lack of foreign exchange and the inability to import defense materials such as military equipment pose the greatest threat to the regime.

2. Enter the development period of "import substitution"

"import substitution"

Since 1950s, American aid has been coming to Taiwan Province Province. Although the main purpose behind American aid is to prevent the world from being blocked, the United States must also assist the economic development of the recipient countries, so that the recipient countries can cope with their own military expenditures and avoid excessive military burden and dragging down the United States itself. Therefore, in addition to the seemingly average annual aid of $ 1 billion, American aid forces play a guiding role in the economic policy of Taiwan Province Province, enabling Taiwan Province Province to develop industrialization and pay military expenses with its own economic achievements. Since 1950s, under the background of foreign exchange shortage, Taiwan Province Province has launched an economic strategy of "import substitution" to meet the aid requirements of the United States: the main focus is to earn foreign exchange by exporting a large number of agricultural products or processed products such as rice and sugar; Moreover, in order to reduce the demand for foreign exchange, tariff protection and import restriction are adopted to support the development of light industry, which mainly produces necessities for people's livelihood in China. From 65438 to 0953, the national government implemented the first four-year plan to develop "import substitution", which was the central content of the first economic construction plan. Then, the second-stage four-year economic construction plan implemented in 1957 mainly continued the strategy of "import substitution", so the two-stage economic construction planning period, or the whole 1950s, is usually called "import substitution period".

The import substitution strategy has effectively solved the foreign exchange problem for the government and cultivated domestic light industry, which mainly produces necessities for people's livelihood. From the changes in the economic import structure of Taiwan Province Province in the 1950s, that is, expanding the imports of production materials and industrial raw materials and reducing the exports of consumer goods, the proportion of consumer goods imports, in particular, has greatly decreased, from 1952 to 7% of the total imports.

The import substitution industry in the domestic market has made remarkable achievements, which is natural and promoted by various national protective policies, especially trade and exchange policies. For example, setting priorities for foreign exchange quotas; Adopt a dual exchange rate and import and export chain system that is not conducive to exports; In addition, import quotas and high tariffs are adopted to curb imports; And save foreign exchange on imported raw materials, and restrict the establishment of new factories to prevent excessive investment. In this context, the main development forces of light industry in the 1950s were agricultural product processing and cotton spinning. In addition, although the heavy chemical industry at that time only accounted for about 25% of the total industrial production, the productivity was improved to a considerable extent, and oil and coal products gradually appeared.

Development of public and private undertakings in the period of import substitution

(1) Sugar, electricity and fertilizer-the three giants of public utilities in the 1950s.

Public utilities were taken over by the national government from the colonial government. In 1950s, sugar, electricity and fertilizer were the strategic basis of industrial development. Among them, the sugar industry is the main force to earn foreign exchange, accounting for 49% of the total export, and its importance can be imagined. In addition, as an energy industry, the power industry is the key to development, so it has become the biggest focus of government investment. In the 1950s, the largest part of American aid funds was invested here. For example, in 1954, power investment accounted for 69. 1% of American aid funds, and 1952+0964 was completed. Finally, look at the fertilizer industry, which has a great influence on agriculture, especially grain production. As explained in detail earlier, in the 1950s, the annual output of chemical fertilizers was about 200,000 tons, which supplied 30% of the island's demand and also played the role of import substitution. 1960, a new factory was built with the assistance of the United States, and the production scale expanded rapidly, and the self-sufficiency rate climbed to 79%.

On the one hand, it is the foundation to support industrial development, on the other hand, it relies heavily on American aid funds. 65% of the funds of public enterprises depend on American aid. In fact, it is impossible to develop electricity without American assistance, and it is impossible to develop the fertilizer industry without electricity. Without chemical fertilizer, agriculture will be affected. In addition, all kinds of light and heavy industries can not proceed smoothly. This shows the importance of American aid in the period of import substitution.

(2) The four protagonists of private enterprises-food, textile, cement and paper making.

In the early stage of industrialization, food and textiles played a leading role in import substitution, which is a common phenomenon in Taiwan Province Province and other developing countries. The characteristic of Taiwan Province Province is that the food industry has its historical foundation, and the textile industry was transferred from the mainland after the war. If we talk about the textile industry, we jumped up soon after moving to Taiwan Province, and this book has another detailed explanation.

As for cement and paper making, it is thanks to the natural resources of Taiwan Province Province. Of course, no matter what kind of industry, the protection of government policies is indispensable.

Surplus transfer with American aid

Although the original intention was mainly military, American aid had a great influence on the economic development of Taiwan Province province after the war. It can almost be said that without the assistance of the United States, I wonder if Taiwan Province Province can create the so-called "economic miracle"! Of course, it must be emphasized that American aid is definitely not American charity-everything is for American military and economic interests!

With regard to the agricultural land reform that initially stabilized the National Government, the Agricultural Restoration Conference, one of the important executing agencies of American aid to Taiwan, will send experts to participate and give guidance, and give subsidies to the National Government in terms of funds. For example, the subsidy reform plan needs to hire people, up to more than 33,000 people. It can be said that it is difficult for Taiwan Province Province to complete the agricultural land reform in a short time without the assistance of the United States and the agricultural restoration conference.

The completion of agricultural land reform disintegrated the landlord class, which not only dispelled local opposition, but also made it easier for the national government to exploit the remaining farmers. For farmers, after the reform, farmers can own their own land, which can stimulate their willingness to produce and improve agricultural productivity to a certain extent. When it comes to improving productivity, it is very important for the United States to provide technology through agricultural rehabilitation, such as variety improvement, cultivation technology innovation and purchase subsidies for pesticides and agricultural machinery. Another important point that can't be ignored is that at the initial stage of American aid, it not only provided imported fertilizers, but also paid attention to the investment and construction of fertilizer industry to promote developed agricultural production. In order to help Japan under American occupation solve the shortage of food and foreign exchange, the government is required to sign a Sino-Japanese trade agreement to exchange goods for goods, that is, rice from Taiwan Province Province is exported to Japan in exchange for fertilizer imports. In order to allow Taiwan Province Province to export more rice to Japan, the Agricultural Restoration Conference not only helped to increase rice production, but also the United States reduced rice consumption in Taiwan Province Province with agricultural products aided by the United States. After the rice collected by farmers was developed and exported, fertilizer was used as a return, allowing the government to implement the grain-for-grain system by stripping its own fertilizer. From providing fertilizer directly, demanding barter between China and Japan to investing in fertilizer industrial production, without the support of American aid, the national government could not smoothly carry out the fertilizer-for-food system.

In addition, the improvement of agricultural technology, mechanization and fertilizer use not only helps to improve productivity, but also creates surplus agricultural labor force in the early stage of industrial development to provide labor force for light industry. The development of agricultural production, the increase of farmers' income and the improvement of their lives can also provide a consumer market for the developing light industry; Coupled with the improvement of agricultural production and the systematic seizure of rice and sugar by the government, it is used for exporting foreign exchange and importing industrial production materials; The government took the grain and lowered the wage level with the policy of low quantity and low price.

In a word, American aid plays a "bridgehead" role in the economic development strategy through agricultural recovery. First, through the reform of agricultural land, eliminate the power of landlords and scattered land rights, change the rural structure and consolidate the rural order; Then introduce agricultural technology to transfer the labor and resources from the agricultural sector to the industrial sector to meet the needs of industrial development.

Industrial success, agricultural success

In a word, the key to the success of the import substitution strategy lies in that in the 1950s, with the assistance of the United States, the surplus generated by the booming agriculture was systematically developed by the government and transferred to the promotion of industrial development. During the import substitution period, the slogan of the government was "to support workers with agriculture and to promote agriculture with industry". However, the achievements of agricultural workers are remarkable, and they are also called "economic miracle". The second half of the sentence "developing agriculture with industry" is unknown.