Center for Chinese Rural Studies at Central China Normal University (CCRS), which is established to meet the requirements of solving the problems of peasants and rural areas, is problem-guided and characterized with politics. It is a comprehensive academic research institution on rural problems.

The history of CCRS can be dated back to 1980s when Zhang Houan and his colleagues, the members of the lab for politics research in Central China Normal University, started their research on rural grassroots government system. In 1990, the Center for Rural Grass-Roots Regime Studies was set up. Its director was Zhang Houan and vice-director Xu Yong. In 1990s, the research field of the central was expanded from rural politic to economic, education and rural society. According to this condition, the central was renamed as Center of Rural Studies of Central China Normal University in 1995. In May 2000, the center was upgraded and renamed as Center for Chinese Rural Studies at Central China Normal University (CCNU), assessed as one of One Hundred Key Research Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences in Universities by the China Ministry of Education.

The main research of CCRS cover rural politics research, rural economic research, rural education research and rural society research, and it also attaches great importance to the rural grass-roots regime, villagers` self-Government, reform of rural tax and fee system, innovation of microcosmic economic organization and recognition on the rural society and so on so forth.

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