According to the State Council’s decision, China launched the Second National Agricultural Census. The time reference for point items is December 31, 2006. The time reference for period items is January 1 to December 31, 2006. The objects of the Census focused on China rural households, urban agricultural production households, agricultural holdings, villagers’ committees, and township and town governments. The main contents include: conditions for agricultural production, agricultural production and management activities, utilization of agricultural land, rural labor force and employment, rural infrastructures, rural social services, rural households’ livelihood, as well as the situation of the township, villagers’ committees, community environment and other aspects. Agricultural Census adopted the comprehensive survey methods to enumerating and reporting all targets which carried out individually by the census staff. There were 7 million census staff, supervisors and work staff of census organs at all levels organized and mobilized in the whole country, and 500 million census forms filled in. According to the result of Census, the basic information of agriculture, rural areas and farmers in China have been grasped. 

In accordance with international practice, Office of State Council for the National Agricultural Census organized data quality sampling, and evaluated data quality of Census: the first is using two-stage stratified cluster random sampling method, selected more than 20 thousands households in the country for the second interview, and verifying comparatively with registration results of Census; the second is randomly selected basic Census data from 100 Census districts of each province, and conduct comprehensive inspection on the error areas of the copy, fill, and identify of Census form. As the result, the integrated sampling indicated that, the net underreporting rate of registered household of Agricultural Census was 0.20 percent, and that of the error rate of preliminary data was 0.14 percent. The data quality achieved the level of design standard.

According to the Regulations of National Agricultural Census of China, Office of the Leading Group of the State Council for the National Agricultural Census and National Bureau of Statistics will release the Census Communiqués by stages to announce the major findings to public.

The Basic Conditions of Agriculture, Rural Areas and Farmers

The Second National Agricultural Census involved 40,656 township-level administrative units, of which, 15,365 townships, 19,391 towns; 656,026 village-level organizations, of which, 637,011 villages; 225,920 thousand households, of which 221,080 thousand households living in the rural areas for one year above.

I. Basic Conditions of Agriculture

At the end of 2006, the total of agricultural production households stood at 200,160 thousand, agricultural holdings reached 395,000 thousand; the total of agricultural labor force hit 348,740 thousand persons, and agricultural technicians stood at 2,070 thousand persons in the whole country.

II. Major Agricultural Machinery

At the end of 2006, the total of large-medium and small-sized tractors was respectively 1,400 and 25,500 thousand sets; that of large-medium and small tractor towing farm machinery respectively hit 1,470 and 25,090 thousand sets, and that of combine harvesters was 550 thousand sets.

III. Rural Infrastructures

At the end of 2006, in the town and township areas that having accessed to railway stations occupied 9.6 percent, of that having accessed to highways above secondary level took 46.1 percent, of that having post offices, saving banks, parks, integrated markets and specialized agricultural product markets was respectively 81.1, 88.4, 11.7, 68.4 and 23 percent.

The towns that having concentrated water supply systems occupied 72.3 percent; that of conducting living sewage centralized treatment occupied 19.4 percent, and that of having garbage station was 36.7 percent. 

The villages that opening highway, electricity, telephone and TV program respectively occupied 95.5, 98.7, 97.6 and 97.6 percent. The villages that processing concentrative purification of drinking water occupied 24.5 percent, of that processing concentrative garbage disposal took up 15.8 percent, Of that having firedamp pool took up 33.5 percent, of that finished toilet reconstruction was 20.6 percent, and of that having integrated stores or supermarkets above 50 square meters occupied 34.4 percent.

IV. Rural Social Services

At the end of 2006, the towns and townships that establishing vocational schools occupied 10.8 percent, of that having broadcasts and TV stations accounted for 71.3 percent, of that having hospitals and health centers took up 98.8 percent, and of that having geracomiums occupied 66.6 percent. 

There were 87.6 percent of villages having primary schools within 3 kilometers, 69.4 percent of that having secondary schools within 5 kilometers. That of 30.2 percent of that having kindergartens and nurseries, 10.7 percent of that having sports and fitting centers, 13.4 percent of that having reading rooms and culture stations, 15.1 percent of that having spare-time farmer culture organizations, 74.3 percent of that having sanitation rooms, 76.1 percent of that having certificated doctors, and 16.3 percent of that having certificated midwives.

V. Rural Labor Force Resource and Employment

At the end of 2006, the total of rural labor force resources was 531,000 thousand persons, of which, 50.8 percent of male labor forces. Rural labor forces numbered 478,520 persons, occupying 90.1 percent of the total rural labor force resources. Rural labors going outside reached 131,810 persons, of the total 64 percent of male labor forces.

VI. Rural Households’ Living Conditions

At the end of 2006, the rural residents have an average of 128 square meters of residential area. That of 99.3 percent of them was having their own residence, that of 48.6 percent of them using pipe water, and that of 60.2 percent of them uses firewood as the cooking energy.

Average numbers of color TV for per 100 households was 87.3 sets, that of fixed telephone, mobile phone, computer, motorcycle and automobile for daily life respectively was 51.9, 69.8, 2.2, 38.2 and 3.4 sets.

Notes:

1. Township-level administrative unit: as the Second National Agricultural Census registration object, township-level administrative unit including countryside, towns, and township farms with administrative functions. In the Census Communiqué, rural infrastructures and basic social services cover 34,756 towns and townships, 15,365 townships, 19,391 towns of the total, while the township-level farms with administrative function were not including.

2. Village-level organization: as registration respondents of the Second National Agricultural Census, it includes villagers’ committees, farms which have collectively owned agricultural land or agricultural household registration of the population of neighborhood geographical jurisdiction, and with villagers’ committee function. In the Census Communiqué, rural Infrastructures, and basic social services cover 637,011 villagers’ committees and the areas under the administration of residents’ committee with collective-owned farming land or rural household register population, while not including farming lands with villagers’ committee function.

3. Household: as registration respondents of the Second National Agricultural Census, it includes rural households and urban agricultural production households. Rural household include collectivity and family household. In the Census Communiqué, the scope of information of the rural household living conditions cover family households lived in the rural area for more than one year.

4. Agricultural production households and agricultural holdings: refer to households and units that managing in farming, forestry, animal husbandry, fishery and services of farming, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery in farming lands or separate facilities, as well as reaching one of the following standards:     

① Area of cultivated land, garden plot or water area for breeding aquatics under management is above 0.1 mu at the end of the year.

② Forestry area or area of grassland under management is above 1 mu at the end of the year.

③ Number of breeding cattle, horses, pigs, sheep and goats, and other large-medium livestocks is or more than one head at the end of the year.

④ Number of breeding rabbits and other beasties, as well as poultry is or more than 20 heads at the end of the year.

⑤ The income of agricultural product for sale, self-produced and self-used in 2006 is more than 500 yuan.

⑥ Providing operating income of services on forestry, animal husbandry and fishery above 500 yuan for the other households and units, or the forestry, animal husbandry and fishery unit in administrative and business services sector, services expenditure spending more than 500 yuan.

In Census Communiqué, basic production status and conditions of agricultural cover all agricultural production households and agricultural holdings in China, either in rural or urban area.

5. Rural labor force resource: refers to the resident population of rural households at 16 years old and over, and possess the work abilities at the end of 2006 (that is, population living in the household more than 6 months).

6. Agricultural laborer: refers to the employed persons that major engaged in agriculture in 2006, including all the agricultural employed persons in rural households, urban agricultural production households and agricultural holdings in China.

7. Agricultural technician: refers to the personnel engaged in agriculture industry, has received technical training in various agricultural professionals, or have an agricultural or specialized technical skills with professional titles, meanwhile, they must be a higher level issued by the department in charge of professional and technical qualified certification, which divided into junior, secondary and senior  levels. The level of professional and technical personnel was ranked by the registered professional technical qualifications.

8. Rural migrant worker: refers to the persons of the residence practitioners in rural households, who employed outside of the local administrative jurisdiction of the township more than a month in 2006.

9. Towns with concentrated water supply: refer to towns providing residents in the town area concentrated water supply through pipe system. The water quality must be in line with the state water or drinking water standards. If it does not conform to state water or drinking water standard, or relevant departments of the state water quality testing has not been identified as qualified, it would not be the concentrated water supply, although water in the form of concentrate.

10. Towns with the living sewage processing: this refers to the living sewage of the residents of the town bring into the sewerage network and processing by the sewage plants.

11. Towns with garbage station: refers to the town in the region have focused on the garbage, transit or drug-free treatment of the waste clean-up sites. Garbage station does not include storage of garbage only, but not to carry out any deal with the garbage dumps sites.

12. Village: refers to the geographical jurisdiction of the village committee, and geographical jurisdiction of collectively owned agricultural land or agricultural household registration of the neighborhood committee.

13. Village with the purified drinking water: refers to drinking water of the village committee households being purified, disinfected, and other treatment. The drinking water from the water plants treat as concentrated purification.

14. Villages with collective wastes processing: refers to the area of local villages where garbage being processed collectively in facilities or the garbage disposed in a collective way without having such facilities.   

15. Villages completed toilets reconstruction: refers to the basically eliminated the open-air droppings jars, cesspit, aqua privies, simple latrines, most or all of the residents use the septic tanks, firedamp pools, or three-pools toilet in the local village, some residents use public toilets or other designated places of the village designated as a dumping waste sites.

16. Villages with sanitation rooms: refers to the area of local villages where established sanitation organs by villages collectivity or individual under the approval of administrative sanitation departments at county-level. The sanitation rooms have fixed site, engaging in medical activities, and taking management function; while excluding professional dentistry rooms, and units engaging in medicine sales.

17. Acreage under residential buildings: refers to floor space of all residential buildings of the household, including self-residence, lease, and vacant floor space of residential buildings.