Chinese Rural Cooperative Economy: Organizational Forms and Institutional Change

Author: Fu Chen
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-03-01
Features: Cooperatives are the best form for improving the organized level of farmers entering the market. This book studies the theory, practice, and policy of rural cooperative economy in China. The term "rural cooperative economy" is used in a broad sense in this book, focusing on the organizational forms and institutional changes of rural cooperative economy, aiming to conduct a comprehensive summary of China's rural cooperative economy. It presents the development process of various forms of China's rural cooperative economy in an overall picture and helps readers grasp the development trends of China's rural cooperative economy from the perspective of interconnections. The book is divided into 12 chapters. Chapter 1 is the preface, mainly discussing the significance of developing cooperative economy in rural areas. International experience shows that agriculture is one of the most active fields of cooperative economy, and farmer cooperatives are the main body of cooperatives in the world today. China's vast agriculture and rural areas provide huge space for the development of cooperatives. However, the rural cooperative economy of New China has gone through a tortuous development process and remains underdeveloped to this day. The objective necessity of vigorously developing rural cooperative economy in China is deeply rooted in the challenges and tasks of agriculture and rural economy entering a new stage of development.
Chapter 2 is a literature review of the basic theory of cooperative economy. By sorting out and summarizing the general theory and development changes of cooperative economy, including Western classic cooperative theory and Marxist cooperative economy theory, and tracking the contemporary changes of cooperative economy institutions, it provides theoretical tools and references for analyzing and researching China's rural cooperative economy. Starting from Chapter 3, the book studies the specific forms of China's rural cooperative economy.
Chapter 3 first studies the agricultural cooperativization and collectivization after the founding of New China. In the 1950s, the Communist Party of China led the socialist cooperativization of agriculture, guiding individual small farmers onto the socialist path, but the cooperativization ended with collectivization, which had a profound impact on the economy and society of contemporary rural China and even the entire country. Studying this period of history not only helps us correctly understand the past and learn valuable historical experience and lessons but also helps us correctly understand and guide the present and future development of China's rural cooperative economy.
Chapter 4 studies the reconstruction of rural community cooperative economic organizations after the reform. The cooperativization of China's agriculture ended with collectivization. After the reform in 1978, rural areas abolished the people's commune system and established a system based on household contract management as the foundation, with "combination of unification and division, double-layer management." Under the banner of "separation of government and commune," rural areas separated grassroots political organizations from community-based cooperative economic organizations, with the latter serving as representatives of the property rights of collective land and other assets in rural areas. However, the task of reform is far from complete. This chapter studies the tortuous process and main problems of reconstructing rural community-based cooperative economic organizations and evaluates the institutional arrangements and innovations of rural community-type shareholding cooperatives as a pioneering reform experiment.
Chapter 5 studies farmer professional cooperative organizations. Unlike rural community cooperative economic organizations, which were rebuilt on the "ruins" of the people's commune, farmer professional cooperative economic organizations emerged after the reform, with organizational arrangements closer to true cooperative economic organizations and are known as the new cooperative economy in rural China. This chapter studies the conditions and reasons for the emergence and development of farmer professional cooperative economic organizations, analyzes the development characteristics, institutional arrangements, and operational mechanisms of farmer professional cooperative economic organizations, the main problems they face, and proposes policy recommendations for further development.
Chapter 6 studies farmer professional technical associations. Technical cooperation is currently the main content of farmer professional cooperation in China, with its organizational carrier generally named rural professional and technical associations. This chapter explores the causes of the emergence and development of farmer professional technical associations, discusses their institutional arrangements, operational mechanisms, and main problems, and proposes policy recommendations for development and improvement.
Chapter 7 studies rural shareholding cooperative enterprises. The vigorous development of township enterprises has been a powerful driving force behind China's economic takeoff after the reform. However, township enterprises are also plagued by external competitive pressure and internal property rights issues. In the mid-to-late 1980s, township enterprises actively explored the reform path of shareholding cooperatives, becoming a new entity in China's rural cooperative economy. This chapter studies the reasons for the rise and development of rural shareholding cooperative enterprises, analyzes the main content of the reform of shareholding cooperative enterprises, the performance achieved, and the main problems they face, and proposes policy recommendations for development and improvement.
Chapter 8 studies rural cooperative funds. Rural cooperative funds were an attempt at rural financial cooperation after the reform, existing for only a short period of about 10 years before being cleared and finally abolished by the government. However, the objective need for rural financial cooperation still exists. This chapter reviews the development history of rural cooperative funds, summarizes the experience and lessons of development, and explores the inspiration for rebuilding rural financial cooperation.
Chapter 9 studies rural credit cooperatives. Rural credit cooperatives are the official form of rural financial cooperation in China. Early rural credit cooperatives absorbed farmers' voluntary shares, exhibiting certain factors of cooperative economy, but rural credit cooperatives were national financial institutions from the very beginning. This chapter studies the causes of the emergence of rural credit cooperatives and the institutional changes, analyzes the process of reform and the main problems of rural credit cooperatives, and explores the basic principles and policy recommendations for deepening the reform.
Chapter 10 studies supply and marketing cooperatives. Supply and marketing cooperatives are a special form of cooperation in the rural circulation field of China and were national organizations from the very beginning, fulfilling national functions. However, early grassroots supply and marketing cooperatives in rural areas absorbed farmers' shares, thus having certain factors of cooperative economy. After the reform, to adapt to the needs of rural economic development, the state attached importance to this organizational resource of supply and marketing cooperatives, guiding them to transform into true cooperatives and serve "the three rural areas." This chapter studies the institutional changes and reform process of supply and marketing cooperatives, exploring strategic new thinking for deepening the reform.
Chapter 11 studies rural cooperative medical care. China's rural medical cooperation system was established during the period of agricultural cooperativization and reached its "zenith" during the people's commune period. After the reform, with the fundamental changes in the rural collective economic system and institutional environment, the rural cooperative medical care system shrank significantly. To provide basic health guarantees for the rural population, the government rebuilt rural cooperative medical care in the 1990s and, in the 21st century, proposed the construction of "new rural cooperative medical care." This chapter traces the historical trajectory, studies the development process and institutional changes of rural cooperative medical care, and explores the development and improvement of new rural cooperative medical care.
Chapter 12 is a study on the legislation of farmer professional cooperative economic organizations. Farmer cooperation requires the government to formulate corresponding laws on cooperative economy to support and protect it. However, the specialized legislation for cooperative economy in China has been vacant and lagging for a long time. This chapter studies the current situation and reasons for the lagging legislation of farmer professional cooperative economic organizations in China, evaluates the experience of legislation on farmer professional cooperative economic organizations abroad, explores the main content of legislation on farmer professional cooperative economic organizations in China, and proposes suggestions for promoting the legislation of farmer professional cooperative economic organizations in China.
Cooperatives are the best form for improving the organized level of farmers entering the market. This book studies the theory, practice, and policy of rural cooperative economy in China. The term "rural cooperative economy" is used in a broad sense in this book, focusing on the organizational forms and institutional changes of rural cooperative economy, aiming to conduct a comprehensive summary of China's rural cooperative economy. It presents the development process of various forms of China's rural cooperative economy in an overall picture and helps readers grasp the development trends of China's rural cooperative economy from the perspective of interconnections. The book is divided into 12 chapters. Chapter 1 is the preface, mainly discussing the significance of developing cooperative economy in rural areas. International experience shows that agriculture is one of the most active fields of cooperative economy, and farmer cooperatives are the main body of cooperatives in the world today. China's vast agriculture and rural areas provide huge space for the development of cooperatives. However, the rural cooperative economy of New China has gone through a tortuous development process and remains underdeveloped to this day. The objective necessity of vigorously developing rural cooperative economy in China is deeply rooted in the challenges and tasks of agriculture and rural economy entering a new stage of development.