Peasants lack clear rights to collectively owned assets like rural land, and the forests, water, factories, and investments on it; their claims to the profits from such assets are easily ignored. Pilot programs launched nationwide in September 2014 calculate the total value of collectively owned rural assets, convert it into individual shares, and divide them among ‘shareholders’ who can hold or sell shares as in a market. The aim is to make it easier to consolidate land and urbanise rural residents, empowering them in the process.