Abstract: Agricultural economic growth is closely related with the farmland system. Since the founding of the republic, China has implemented three types of farmland system successively, including the land belonging to the farmer, the land belonging to the collective with unified management, and the household contract responsibility system. The empirical study and theoretical analysis indicate that the land belonging to the collective with unified management is an inefficiency system; the other two systems are effective, but each has its merits and shortcomings. The household contract responsibility system is a correct choice under the specific historic conditions and should be carried out steadily; at the same time it should be innovated constantly.

Key words: farmland system; system efficiency; counter-fact measurement study