A nine-member Study Mission was organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and visited China in 1975 to study Chinese approaches to agricultural and rural development in depth; to analyze the commune experience as an example of integrated rural development; and to try to determine in what ways the Chinese development experience--or some of its aspects--is replicable. Visiting 12 communes and 22 Mission-Related sites, the Mission found the Chinese waging a "total war" for agricultural production and against backwardness. All potential food sources were utilized; every sliver of land was cropped; even rooftop plots were used. Rivers and canals produced a harvest of organic matter, animal feed, foods, fish, ducks, and geese. Animal droppings, human excrement, crop wastes, and plant materials from city and household rubbish were all turned into compost and returned to the soil. They found that agricultural training was based on the needs of farmers, especially the poor and lower middle "farmers" and that agricultural students were guaranteed jobs upon graduation and returned, therefore, to the rural areas from which they came. This report describes the background of Chinese agricultural development, the Chinese approach to development, and their achievements as related to the commune system of organizing people for production. Implications for other developing countries are discussed. (DS)