Township Enterprises

Township enterprises are cooperatives of various forms and individual-owned businesses located in the countryside. They can be rural collective economic entities or businesses run by farmers in towns and villages. Such enterprises began to boom across the country in the 1980s along with rural reform.

In March 1984, the central authorities renamed all the businesses formerly belonging to production teams or people's communes "township enterprises." In terms of ownership, they were run by townships, villages, groups of households or individuals, and their businesses covered agriculture, manufacturing, transportation, construction, commerce, catering, repairs and other services.

Township enterprises boomed from 1984 to 1988. Their growth slowed down from 1989 to 1991, during which many of them adjusted their structure to tide over the difficulties. Then there came a second boom period from 1992 to 1994, and a large number of big or medium-sized enterprises and modern corporate groups emerged. Since 1995, township enterprises have maintained steady growth.

In October 1996, China adopted its Law on Township Enterprises to better regulate the planning and management of these rural businesses. Since then, the state has adopted a series of major measures to encourage a large number of rural businesses to engage in agriculture, and to promote their transformation and upgrading by developing agricultural resources and tapping the potential of agriculture. The government has supported their innovative development, in the expectation that innovation will lead to startups, startups will create more jobs, and more jobs will bring higher incomes, which will boost rural revitalization and the modernization of agriculture and rural areas.

Township enterprises were another miracle created by Chinese farmers in addition to the household contract responsibility system. While growing into a major component of China's economy, particular the rural economy, these enterprises have reduced the rural areas' reliance on agriculture and helped farmers attain prosperity. Various models have emerged in developing local businesses, such as those created in southern Jiangsu Province, Wenzhou of Zhejiang Province, Gengche Town of northern Jiangsu, and the Pearl River Delta region. These models offer new approaches to solving issues related to agriculture, rural areas and farmers, and help promote rural China's industrialization, urbanization and modernization.

鄉(xiāng)鎮(zhèn)企業(yè)

鄉(xiāng)鎮(zhèn)企業(yè)，就是中國鄉(xiāng)鎮(zhèn)地區(qū)多形式、多層次、多門類、多渠道的合作企業(yè)和個體企業(yè)的統(tǒng)稱，即農村集體經濟組織或者農民投資為主，在鄉(xiāng)鎮(zhèn)（包括所轄村）開辦的承擔支援農業(yè)義務的各類企業(yè)。20世紀80年代以來，隨著中國農村改革的深入，鄉(xiāng)鎮(zhèn)企業(yè)異軍突起，迅速發(fā)展。

1984年3月，中共中央、國務院在轉發(fā)農牧漁業(yè)部《關于開創(chuàng)社隊企業(yè)新局面的報告》的通知中，開始把原來的社隊企業(yè)改稱為鄉(xiāng)鎮(zhèn)企業(yè)，賦予鄉(xiāng)鎮(zhèn)企業(yè)以不同于社隊企業(yè)的新的性質和內容。從所有權上看，鄉(xiāng)鎮(zhèn)企業(yè)包括鄉(xiāng)鎮(zhèn)辦、村辦、聯戶辦、個體辦等企業(yè)。從門類看，鄉(xiāng)鎮(zhèn)企業(yè)包括農業(yè)、工業(yè)、交通運輸業(yè)、建筑業(yè)以及商業(yè)、飲食、服務、修理等企業(yè)。1984年至1988年鄉(xiāng)鎮(zhèn)企業(yè)進入第一個全面發(fā)展的高峰期。1989年至1991年，在三年治理整頓期間，鄉(xiāng)鎮(zhèn)企業(yè)發(fā)展速度減緩，許多企業(yè)苦練內功，調整結構，渡過了難關。1992年至1994年是鄉(xiāng)鎮(zhèn)企業(yè)發(fā)展的第二個高峰期，涌現出一批大中型企業(yè)和現代化企業(yè)集團。1995年以后，鄉(xiāng)鎮(zhèn)企業(yè)進入穩(wěn)步發(fā)展的時期。1996年10月，《中華人民共和國鄉(xiāng)鎮(zhèn)企業(yè)法》正式出臺，標志著中國鄉(xiāng)鎮(zhèn)企業(yè)的規(guī)劃和管理走上了法制軌道。此后，國家在“三農”方面采取了一系列重大措施，吸引大量鄉(xiāng)鎮(zhèn)企業(yè)回歸農業(yè)，聚焦農業(yè)資源開發(fā)，彰顯農業(yè)特色優(yōu)勢，促進鄉(xiāng)鎮(zhèn)企業(yè)轉型提升。中共十八大以來，國家按照“基在農業(yè)、惠在農村、利在農民”原則，推進鄉(xiāng)鎮(zhèn)企業(yè)創(chuàng)新發(fā)展，逐漸形成以創(chuàng)新帶創(chuàng)業(yè)、以創(chuàng)業(yè)帶就業(yè)、以就業(yè)帶增收的良好局面，為實施鄉(xiāng)村振興戰(zhàn)略、實現農業(yè)農村現代化發(fā)揮重要作用。

鄉(xiāng)鎮(zhèn)企業(yè)是中國農民繼家庭聯產承包責任制后的又一偉大創(chuàng)造。鄉(xiāng)鎮(zhèn)企業(yè)深刻地改變了農村經濟單純依靠農業(yè)發(fā)展的格局，加快了農民致富奔小康的進程，已成為農村經濟的重要支柱和國民經濟的重要組成部分。全國各地在興辦企業(yè)的實踐中，創(chuàng)造出了一些具有地區(qū)特色的模式，如蘇南模式、溫州模式、耿車模式、珠江模式等，為解決好農業(yè)、農村、農民問題，推進中國特色農村工業(yè)化、城鎮(zhèn)化、現代化探索出了一條新路。