Huge gains in agricultural efficiency have emancipated huge
numbers of rural laborers from the land, thus laying the basis for
the development of farmer-run township enterprises whose
competitively priced goods and services sell well across China.
They are involved in many sectors, e.g., industry, agricultural
products processing, transportation and communications,
construction, commerce and catering.
By 2004, 22.13 million township enterprises, with 138.66 million
employees were generating 4,181.5 billion yuan in added value, a
13.9 percent increase over 2003.
Now the driving force behind the increase in farmers' income and
rural economic development, township enterprises have created job
opportunities for about 30 percent of rural laborers to date.
