Chinese Rural Cooperative Economic Organization Forms and Institutional Changes

Author: Fu Chen
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-04-12
Features: Cooperatives are the best form for improving the organized participation of farmers in the market. This book studies the theory, practice, and policies 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 study of China's rural cooperative economy. It presents the development history of various forms of China's rural cooperative economy in a holistic manner and helps readers grasp the development trends of China's rural cooperative economy by understanding their interconnections. The book is divided into 12 chapters. Chapter 1 is the preface, which primarily discusses the significance of developing rural cooperative economy. 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 agricultural and rural areas provide huge space for the development of cooperatives. However, the rural cooperative economy of New China has experienced 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 entering a new stage of development in agricultural and rural economy.
Chapter 2 is a literature review of the basic theories of cooperative economy. By combing and summarizing the general theories and developments of cooperative economy, including Western classical cooperative theories and Marxist cooperative economy theories, and tracking the contemporary changes in cooperative economic systems, it provides theoretical tools and references for analyzing and studying 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 agricultural socialist cooperativization, guiding individual small farmers onto the socialist path. However, 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 from valuable historical experiences and lessons but also helps us correctly recognize 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, the people's commune system in rural areas was abolished, and a system based on household contract management as the foundation and a "combination of unification and division, dual management" was established. Under the banner of "separating the government from the commune," rural areas were divided into grassroots administrative organizations and community-based cooperative economic organizations, the latter serving as representatives of property rights for collective land and other assets in rural areas. However, the task of reform is far from complete. This chapter studies the tortuous process of rebuilding rural community-based cooperative economic organizations and the main problems they face, 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 and have organizational arrangements closer to true cooperative economic organizations, known as the new type of cooperative economy in rural China. This chapter studies the conditions and reasons for the emergence and development of farmer professional cooperative economic organizations, analyzes their development characteristics, institutional arrangements, and operational mechanisms, 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, and its organizational carrier is generally named as rural professional technical associations. This chapter explores the reasons for 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 rapid development of township enterprises has been a powerful force in the take-off of China's economy after the reform. However, township enterprises are also troubled by external competitive pressures and internal property rights issues. In the mid-to-late 1980s, township enterprises actively explored the reform path of shareholding cooperatives, becoming a new phenomenon 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, the performance achieved, and the main problems, and proposes policy recommendations for development and improvement.
Chapter 8 studies rural cooperative funds. Rural cooperative funds were a trial of rural financial cooperation in China after the reform, but they existed for only a short period of about 10 years before being cleared by the government and finally abolished. However, the objective need for rural financial cooperation still exists. This chapter reviews the development history of rural cooperative funds, summarizes the experiences 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. In the early days, rural credit cooperatives absorbed farmers' voluntary shares, possessing certain factors of cooperative economy. However, rural credit cooperatives were national financial institutions from the very beginning. This chapter studies the reasons for 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 cooperative in the circulation field of rural China and were national organizations from the very beginning, performing national functions. However, early rural grassroots supply and marketing cooperatives absorbed farmers' shares, thus possessing 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 to serve "the three rural areas." This chapter studies the institutional changes and reform process of supply and marketing cooperatives, and explores the strategic new thinking for deepening the reform.
Chapter 11 studies rural cooperative medical care. The rural medical cooperation system in China was established during the period of agricultural cooperativization and reached its "peak" 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 system has shrunk significantly. To provide basic health guarantees for the rural population, the government rebuilt the rural cooperative medical system in the 1990s and proposed the construction of "new rural cooperative medical care" in the 21st century. 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 on cooperative economy in China has been blank 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.