A Chinese farmer's life story

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China is traditionally an agricultural country, with most of its population living in rural areas. Agriculture has always been considered the lifeline of the national economy. Farmers' livelihood is vital to the improvement of Chinese people's living standards. We recently talked to a local farmer in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Jin Fuhe, Farmer of Hohhot, Inner Mongolia said "My father's generation did nothing but grow grains. Every year, we had just enough to eat after much hard work. We struggled a lot.

30 percent of all farmers often went hungry.

When I was 16, the household contract responsibility system was implemented.

I have four family members -- my parents, my sister, and I. We had a much better life after the new system began.

The abolishment of the agricultural tax was the best news for farmers.

My family did not have much land, just around one-third of a hectare. We used to pay more than 1,000 yuan in taxes. Now the tax has been abolished and the government gives us subsidies instead.

My family's net income is about 30,000 yuan per year.

Now I can afford a mini-van. In the past, even the county head couldn't afford one."