Public Policies for Sustainable Rural Development: Evidence from China and Romania

Rural areas have an important potential for sustaining economic growth. While preserving important natural and human resources, rural areas also represent a key challenge in terms of balanced public policies for sustainable development both in China and Romania. Although there are considerable differences between these two countries in terms of population, geography and territorial size, in the field of rural area development we may identify significant similarities regarding some important issues: poverty, unemployment, poor rural infrastructure and access to education, transport and other public services. Taking into account these similarities, our paper presents a comparative analysis of the main trends in the public policies for sustainable rural development of both countries, highlighting, through a SWOT analysis, the most important opportunities and threats they have to cope with. In the final part of our research we suggest several policy recommendations, including a brief assessment of the cooperation opportunities the two countries may have to improve their rural areas development.