The defining institutional change of post-Mao rural reform. In 1978 a group of 18 farmers in Xiaogang Village
小岗村 (Xiǎogǎngcūn), Anhui, secretly signed a contract dividing collective land among households, each keeping the surplus after meeting state quotas. Endorsed by Deng Xiaoping, it spread nationwide and effectively dismantled the People's Communes
人民公社 (rénmín gōngshè).