Outline of County-Level Economy

Author: Yan Enhu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: County-level economy is a vital foundation of China's national economy and currently serves as the basic carrier for building a moderately prosperous society in all respects in China, which is an undeniable consensus. In fact, research on the "county-level economy" began in the economic theory circles in the 1980s, but at that time, the research content was limited to agricultural economy and urbanization. In other words, the research field was still confined to certain organizational methods of county-level economic activities. The 16th National Congress report proposed the call to "strengthen the county-level economy," which was the first time the term "county-level economy" was used in a programmatic document of the Party and the state. Thereafter, relevant economic and reform documents issued by the central government all included specific content on the county-level economy. The "county-level economy" thus became a hot topic, not only in academic circles but also in society. Party committees and governments at provincial and municipal levels have introduced policies and measures to promote the development of the county-level economy, and research articles on the "county-level economy" have prominently appeared in various newspapers and periodicals, along with numerous specialized books. However, most of the content still focused on the operation of county-level economic organizations and how provincial and municipal governments should provide support, without treating the county-level economy as a system to study its evolutionary and developmental patterns. Yan Enhu's Outlines of the County-Level Economy differs in that it spans over 200,000 words, divided into eleven chapters and three appendices, covering macro and micro topics related to the county-level economy—from economic system reform to administrative system reform, from the "three rural issues" to new industrialization, from financial support systems to the evaluation of county-level economic competitiveness indicators. The three appendices include specific discussions on promoting the county-level economy at provincial and municipal levels, as well as case studies on the development of county-level economic organizations, making it a true outline-style monograph. The book not only rigorously defines the specific connotations of the county-level economy but also analyzes the historical evolution of China's county system over two thousand years from the perspective of management functions. It highly emphasizes the importance of developing the "county-level economy," characterizing it as China's "people's livelihood economy," "national foundation economy," "fundamental ecological economy," "stability economy," "conscience economy," "new growth pole," "foundation for future regional economic cooperation," and "huge market reserve." I fully agree with these points and commend his precise data analysis. The book is grounded in solid theoretical foundations, offers insightful and meticulous analysis, and presents accurate and diligent data, making it not only an excellent monograph on county-level economy research but also a valuable reading material for economic and administrative cadres. Yan Enhu repeatedly emphasizes in the book that "China has always been a country of counties and will remain so for a longer time in the future"; and that "the development of the county-level economy has always been a fundamental issue for China." He argues that "developing the county-level economy is a systematic project that requires comprehensive reforms from the central government to the grassroots, as well as management reforms across various sectors and industries, and even more so, new thinking." China is a large developing country with a population, and the challenges of modernization are extremely arduous and urgent. Only through the sound development of the county-level economy can China ultimately achieve a moderately prosperous society in all respects and establish a civilized, prosperous, and advanced modern China. In the face of economic globalization and the knowledge economy today, the development of the county-level economy cannot follow traditional thinking; it must innovate. Innovating the thinking on the development of the county-level economy is not only a topic for China's development but also a topic for the progress of human civilization. After all, China's county-level population accounts for one-sixth of the world's total population.