The Ministry of Agriculture, Research Center for Rural Economy Household and Village Surveys

The best available English language discussion of the RCRE surveys complete with comparison to other cross sectional and panel data sources from China can be found in:

Benjamin, Dwayne, Loren Brandt and John Giles, “The Evolution of Income Inequality in Rural China, Economic Development and Cultural Change, v53, n4 (July 2005).

Variable List for Household Survey (1986 to 2002 Annual Surveys)

Variable List for Village Survey (1986 to 2002 Annual Surveys)

Supplemental Village Survey (ENGLISH Translation of 2004 Village Governance Survey)

Supplemental Household Survey (ENGLISH Translation of Codebook for 2004 Supplemental Rural Household Social Network, Labor Allocation and Land Use Survey.)