Mainland Chinese village-level cadres have to play simultaneously the roles of “agents of the higher authorities” and “heads of the villagers.” As the former, they must obey the orders of their superior town and township governments; as the latter they are responsible for the management of all rural affairs within their own villages. When the interests and demands of these two roles coincide, village-level cadres have no difficulty in playing their roles. However, if the interests and demands of these two roles are different, there will be role conflicts. Currently, the role conflicts of village-level cadres reflect the conflict between state and the society and also that between administrative rights and autonomy rights.