The RootsTo fully understand what I advocate as the class distinction between rural and urban, it is important to look at the roots of this separation and the history from the initial separation to present. Looking at history in relation to separation, it can be deduced that the urban population benefits from the hindrance of the rural population; A clear sign of the Marxian class system. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) took power in 1949. From this point on, changes in regional inequality correspond remarkably well to the phases of Chinese history. Peaks of inequality in China have been associated with the Great Famine, the Cultural Revolution, and the current phase of openness and decentralization (Kanbur and Zhang 2005:88). The history of Chinese communism can be divided into several phases: 1949–56 (revolution and land reform), 1957–61 (the Great Leap Forward and the Great Famine), 1962–65 (post-famine recovery), 1966–78 (Cultural Revolution and transition to reform), 1979–84 (rural reform), and 1985 to present (post-rural reform, decentralization and opening up to trade and foreign direct investment). (Kanbur and Zhang 2005:90) Inequality was relatively low and constant in the early years of communist rule, when land reform was introduced. When the CCP took power, the country's municipalities became part of a strictly hierarchical network. In the centralized system of the CCP, relations between the provinces and the state were organized on a vertical axis (Bergere 2010). This was the transition period. The CCP had just taken power. The time had come for the future bourgeoisie to align itself with the new governmental power. Inequality increased markedly during the Great Leap Forward and the Great Famine, peaking… middle of paper… Marx, Karl . Capital. Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica, 1952. Print.Ning, Yuemin. “Globalization and Sustainable Development in Shanghai.” Globalization and sustainability of cities in the Asia-Pacific region. Ed. Fu-chen Lo and Peter Marcotullio. Tokyo: United Nations UP, 2001. 271-310. Print.Peet, Richard. “Inequality and Poverty: A Marxist-Geographical Theory.” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 65.4 (1975): 564-71. JSTOR. Web.Peng, Kizhe. "Demographic Consequences of the Great Leap Forward in China's Provinces." Population and Development Review 13.4 (1987): 639-70. JSTOR. Web.Sicular, Terry, Yue Ximing, Bjorn Gustafsson, and Li Shi. The urban-rural divide and income inequality in China. UNU-WIDER, 2005. Solinger, Dorothy, “China Transients and the State: A Form of Civil Society?” Politics and society 21 (1993):98–103.