| Category | AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY AND METEOROLOGY | Organ of Promulgation | The State Council | Status of Effect | In Force |
| Date of Promulgation | 1997-03-11 | Effective Date | 1997-03-11 |
CIRCULAR OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF CHINA AND THE STATE COUNCIL CONCERNING THE TRANSMISSION OF THE REPORT ON THE SUGGESTIONS WITH REGARD TO THE CONDITIONS OF TOWNSHIP AND VILLAGE ENTERPRISES IN CHINA AND THEIR FUTURE REFORM AND DEVELOPMENT BY THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE
|
Circular of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council Concerning the Transmission of the |
|---|
Appendix:REPORT ON THE SUGGESTIONS WITH REGARD TO THE CONDITIONS OF
I.BASIC SITUATION CONCERNING THE DEVELOPMENT OF TOWNSHIP AND VILLAGE
II.GOALS,TASKS AND MAJOR MEASURES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF TOWNSHIP AND
III.CONTINUE TO CREATE A FAVORABLE POLICY ENVIRONMENT FOR THE DEVELOPMENT
IV.EARNESTLY STRENGTHEN LEADERSHIP OF TOWNSHIP AND VILLAGE ENTERPRISES
(March 11, 1997)
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State
Council approve the
Development> by the Ministry of Agriculture, which is hereby transmitted
to you for earnest implementation in the light of actual conditions.
Township and village enterprises are a great creation of the Chinese
peasants. Township and village enterprises have witnessed rapid growth
and scored tremendous achievements since the Third Plenary Session of the
Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Township and
village enterprises have become the backbone force of rural economy and
a strong pillar of the national economy having made great contributions to
diversion of surplus labor power in the rural areas, increase in peasants’
income and input in agriculture, consolidation and strengthening of the
collective economy and the building of affluent, civilized and prosperous
new socialist rural areas; having played an important role in increasing
effective supply of society, promoting the country’s industrialization,
enhancing the nation’s comprehensive power, consolidating the worker-
peasant alliance and ensuring social stability; and having explored a
successful path for the satisfactory resolution of the problem of
agriculture, the rural areas and peasants and promoting economic
restructuring,and national socio-economic development in a big agricultural
country like China where peasants constitute the vast majority. Development
of township and village enterprises are a major strategic option for the
promotion of China’s socialist modernization and making the country strong
and the people rich.
The coming fifteen years are a crucial period in China’s socialist
modernization during which township and village enterprises shoulder new
historical responsibilities.
of the People’s Republic of China> and
line with the spirit of the Fifth and Sixth Plenary Sessions of the
Fourteenth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, persevering
in the simultaneous building of material and spiritual civilizations,
implementing the strategy of reinvigorating the country by way of science
and education and the strategy of sustainable development, pressing ahead
the transformation of economic system and the mode of economic growth and
striving for improvement in quality and efficiency in economic operations.
Efforts should be made to adapt to the objective requirements of the
socialist market economy and socialized mass production with whether it is in
the interest of development of the national economy, the enhancement of
China’s comprehensive national power and improvement in the living standards
of the people as standards, respect the practice, creation and options of the
peasants, sum up experiences, step by step realize standardization, adopt
various forms, actively support and correctly guide township and village
enterprises in deepening reform, clearly define relations of property rights,
ensure the value and appreciation of assets of township and village
enterprises especially those of collective assets, perfect operational
mechanisms, mobilize the enthusiasm and creativeness of owners, operators and
producers, enhance the vigor and vitality of enterprises and improve the
economic performance and competitiveness of enterprises. Efforts should be
made to correctly handle the relations between development and improvement to
maintain sustained rapid growth and lay stress on improvement in overall
quality. Guidance should be provided according to different categories in the
light of local conditions. In the eastern regions emphasis should be on
improvement and development should be achieved in the process of development;
in the central and western regions stress should be on sustained rapid growth
and improvement made in the process of development. In the eastern regions
efforts should be made to actively develop technology-intensive and
capital-intensive industries and outward-oriented economy, push enterprises
in the expansion of scales, upgrading technical levels and grades of
products, transter step by step labor-intensive and resource-processing
industries to the central and western regions so as to accelerate the pace of
development there. Actively implement the east-west cooperation strategy. The
eastern regions and the central and western regions should strengthen
association and cooperation, embark on the road of development with the east
leading the west, the west pushing the east and mutual advancement hand in
hand on the basis of the principle of complementing one another with one’s
own advantages, reciprocity and mutual benefit and sincere cooperation so as
to narrow step by step the gap in economic development among regions. The
policy of encouraging the subsidization, development and stimulation of
agriculture by industry should be continuously perfected. Actively set up
enterprises with agricultural produce and sideline products processing and
distribution as the driving force, realize integration of cultivation,
breeding and processing and integration of trade, industry of agriculture,
promote industrialized and intensive management and operations of
agriculture, to encourage the peasants and enterprises to form community of
interests, to realize increment in value and benefit of farm produce and
increase in peasants income. Resources should be developed and exploited
rationally, pollution actively prevented and treated, and resources,
environment and cultivated lands protected in real earnest. Industries
structures should be adjusted rationally, distribution of enterprises
optimized by relying on scientific and technological advancement, strengthen
enterprise management and resolve in good earnest a number of questions such
as low-level repetition in construction, dispersion in distribution,
extensive operation, unsatisfactory management and low efficiency in certain
localities and enterprises.
The Party and the State carry out the policy of “giving active support,
making rational planning, providing guidance according to the conditions of
different categories and effect administration in accordance with law” with
regard to township and village enterprises. Party and government leaders at
all levels should, standing at the strategic height of reform and opening up
and building socialism with Chinese characteristics, fully realize the great
and profound significance of developing township and village enterprises and
unswervingly promote the reform, development and upgrading of township and
village enterprises. Township and village enterprises should be integrated
into the overall plan for national socio-economic development, and practical
and feasible policy measures worked out, and efforts intensified to render
support to them and good external environment created for them. Party
Committees and governments at all levels should strengthen leadership in
real earnest, take the development of township and village enterprises as
a strategic focus in bringing prosperity to the rural economy and the
national economy as a whole, place it high on the agenda, study regularly
the emerging situation, new conditions and fresh experiences in the
development of township and village enterprises and make timely decisions
in respect of a number of major issues and resolve the difficulties and
problems in the process of reform and development. Laws, regulations and
policy measures related to township and village enterprises should be
implemented in all seriousness. The burden of township and village enterprises
should be lightened in real earnest and the legitimate rights and interests
of township and village enterprises protected. Administrative agencies for
township and village enterprises should be further perfected to give full
play to their functional roles in planning, guidance, administration,
supervision, coordination and services. All departments concerned should
go all out, cooperate and coordinate with one another in providing stronger
support for the development of township and village enterprises, promote,
guide, protect and standardize the development of township and village
enterprises in the realization of the Nineth Five-Year Plan and the 2010
Perspective Goals of the country’s national socio-economic development and
making new greater contributions to China’s socialist modernization.
Appendix:REPORT ON THE SUGGESTIONS WITH REGARD TO THE CONDITIONS OF
TOWNSHIP AND VILLAGE ENTERPRISES IN CHINA AND THEIR FUTURE REFORM AND
DEVELOPMENT (Ministry of Agriculture, January 31, 1997)
Since the implementation of the policy of reform and opening up and
under the guidance of Deng Xiaoping’s theory of building socialism with
Chinese characteristics and the Party’s basic line, township and village
enterprises have witnessed vigorous development in China and scored
achievements which have become the focus of people’s attention. In the
coming fifteen years, township and village enterprises are faced with new
situation and shouldering heavy historical responsibilities in the process
of the implementation of
have, in line with the spirit of Fifth and Sixth Plneary Sessions of the
Fourteeth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and in the light
of the implementation of
development and upgrading of township and village enterprises. The report on
the relevant information and our suggestions is hereby submitted as follows:
I.BASIC SITUATION CONCERNING THE DEVELOPMENT OF TOWNSHIP AND VILLAGE
ENTERPRISES SINCE THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE POLICY OF REFORM AND OPENING UP
Township and village enterprises have developed and grown since the
Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist
Party of China. In particular, in the decade or more since the Central
Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council transmitted
in 1984
there have been rapid growth in economic aggregate of township and village
enterprises and continuous improvement in overall quality which have not
only played a tremendous role in bringing prosperity to the rural economy,
increasing the peasants’ income, supporting agricultural production,
diverting surplus labor, raising peasants’ quality and strengthening
socialist spiritual civilization, but have also made great contributions
to the economic development, political stability and social progress in
China. They mainly manifest themselves in the following aspects:
They Are a Staunch Pillar Strengthening Rural Collective Economy. In
1995, the increment value of township and village enterprises accounted for
56% of the entire rural social increment value and in the coastal regions
and the suburbs of big cities it accounted for over two third. Collective
assets of township and village enterprises account for 77% of the total
rural collective assets which have strongly consolidated and strengthened
the socialist collective economy.
They Are a Strong Guarantee for the Realization of Peasants’ Well-to-do
Life. In 1995, the wage paid by township and village enterprises to workers
and staff members amounted to RMB 438 billion Yuan with 50% of the net
increase of the peasants’ per capita net income from township and village
enterprises. Development of township and village enterprises constitutes
an important force and a measure treating the root-cause in reducing peasants’
burden and development for poverty eradication. Peasants’ income increases
faster, their burden relatively lighter and there are less poverty-stricken
people in localities where township and village enterprises are more
developed.
They Provide a Main Channel for the Absorption of Rural Surplus Labor.
In 1995, 128 million people were employed in township and village enterprises,
taking up 28% of rural labor force. During the Eighth Five-Year Plan period,
35 million people were employed by township and village enterprises,
alleviating employment pressure in China while creating conditions for
agricultural operations run on a moderate scale and raising labor
productivity.
They Provide the Material Foundation for the Promotion of Modernization
of Agriculture. The development of township and village enterprises has
increased input into agriculture, provided large amount of means of production
for agriculture and strongly supported the development of agriculture with
increment value through farm produce processing and subsidization, development
and stimulation of agriculture by industry. During the Eighth Five-Year Plan
period, funds from township and village enterprises for subsidization and
development of agriculture, construction related to agriculture and
various rural undertakings amounted to over RMB 100 billion Yuan.
They are an Effective Force for the Increase in Effective Supply of
Society. Production and operations of township and village enterprises
involve almost all the domains of the national economy. At present, numerous
products of township and village enterprises especially the daily consumer
goods occupy quite a big percentage, for instance, electronics and
communications equipment manufacture accounts for 17%, machinery takes up 26%,
coal 40%, cement 40%, foodsstuffs and beverages 43%, garments 80%, small- and
medium-size farm implements 95% and bricks and tiles 95%, thus making a
historic contribution to the prosperity of urban and rural markets in China.
They Constitute an Important Wing in Promoting the Country’s
Industrialization. In 1995, the increment value of township and village
industries reached RMB 1080.4 billion Yuan, accounting for 44% of national
industries increment value. During the Eighth Five-Year Plan period, 50% of
the net increase in national industries increment value came from township
and village enterprises. Urban and rural industries depend on and support
each other, integrate with each other and promote each other, opening up a
new path of industrialization with Chinese characteristics and acclerating
the process of China’s industrialization.
They are an Effective Way of Enhancing China’s Comprehensive National
Power. In 1995, revenue from business operations of township and village
enterprises nationwide reached RMB 5729.9 billion Yuan; increment value
accomplished amounted to RMB 1459.5 billion Yuan, accounting for over a
quarter of GDP; shipped value of export commodities was RMB 539.5 billion
Yuan, taking up 34% of national export volume; taxes paid to the State were
RMB 128 billion Yuan, accounting for 25% of the country’s tax revenue.
During the Eighth Five-Year Plan period, 30% of China’s GDP came from
township and village enterprises. Development of township and village
enterprises has enhanced China’s overall economic strength.
They Constitute an Important Factor of Social Stability. Development of
township and village enterprises has enabled large amount of rural surplus
labor to have stable occupations and income, provided the material foundation
for the building of government power at the grass-roots level in the rural
areas and enhanced the cohesive power of the Party organizations and
government institutions at the grass-roots level in the rural areas.
They Provide Strong Positions for Cultivation of Spiritual Civilization
in the Rural Areas. Development of township and village enterprises has
promoted the building of small townships and the growth of such undertakings
as science, culture and education, narrowed the gap between the cities and
rural areas and the gap between workers and peasants, consolidated the worker-
peasant alliance, raised the quality of peasants, and trained a huge
industrial army. All this has played an important irreplaceable role in the
cultivation of spiritual civilization in the rural areas.
What warrants special attention is the fact that township and village
enterprises have formed a whole set of unique and flexible mechanisms by
persevering in the organization of production and business operations guided
by the market with elements of production from the market and products to the
market. They include the independent and rapid decision-making mechanism,
the in-and-out labor employment mechanism, the up-and-down cadre mechanism,
the salary-efficiency related distribution mechanism, the clearly-defined
reward and penalty incentive mechanism, the self-responsible profit-loss
restraining mechanism and the self-accumulation development mechanism, etc..
The principle that the enterprises will not eat from “the big pot”, workers
and staff members will not have “iron rice bowls” and cadres will not sit
in “iron chairs” is adhered to. All this has made useful explorations and
provided valuable experiences for the establishment of socialist market
economic system in China.
In 1996, township and village enterprises nationwide continued to
maintain a good mementum, continued to grow through reform and moved
steadily forward through overcoming difficulties with moderate growth
in major economic targets, making a good beginning for the launch of the
Nineth Five-Year Plan. It was estimated that revenue from business operations
during the year would come to RMB 6800 billion Yuan, an 18.7% increase of
the preceding year; increment value accomplished reached RMB 1770 billion
Yuan among which increment value of industries was RMB 1300 billion Yuan,
an increase of 16.5% and 18.5% respectively of the preceding year; total
profit RMB 430 billion Yuan, an increase of 16.3%; taxes paid to the State
RMB 150 billion Yuan, an increase of 17.2%; newly-emplaced labor over 3.5
million persons, total number of workers and staff members 132 million
people. All this has played an important supporting role in the sustained
development of the rural economy and the entire national economy.
Facts have proved that township and village enterprises have become the
main body of China’s rural economy and an important pillar of the national
economy, forming an important component part of building socialism with
Chinese characteristics. Their rise and growth in strength have not only
brought about a profound change in the rural economy and the entire national
economy, but also opened up a new path to realize modernization of
agriculture and the rural areas step by step, accelerate the process of the
country’s industrialization, promote reform, opening up and sustained
development of the economy in an agricultural power like China where peasants
constitute the vast majority. It is a logical path in line with the state of
the nation and the people’s wishes.
Despite the great achievements of township and village enterprises, there
also exist many problems and difficulties in the process of reform and
development. Judging from township and village enterprises themselves,
firstly, some localities blindly embarked on projects of general-purpose
industries, started new projects and engaged in low-level repetitive
construction, structure of industries and products was not rational and
distribution of enterprises was over-dispersed; secondly, property rights of
a number of enterprises have not been clearly defined, there is no
distinction between the government and the enterprises, the mechanism is
weak, causing loss of collective assets; thirdly, some enterprises exercise
extensive management, their operations are unsatisfactory, there are heavy
debt, high material and energy consumption, serious danger of occupational
illnesses and hidden causes of accidents, poor product quality and economic
efficiency; fourthly, there are serious cases of environment pollution, waste
of resources and squandering of cultivated land by a number of enterprises.
Viewed from the external environment, there is lack of understanding of the
great significance of the development of township and village enterprises,
lack of support and lack of strong measures in some localities and
departments where policies are not in place and the development of township
and village enterprises has up till now not been placed in an important
position; in quite a number of localities there has been irrational
overburdening of township and village enterprises, there exist universal
phenomena of unjustified financial levies, charges, penalties and
fund-raising; still there are certain localities and departments engaging in
arbitrary transfer of the assets of township and village enterprises,
changing the nature of ownership of enterprises and infringing on the
legitimate rights and interests of the enterprises; some localities
indiscriminately cut and merged administrative departments of township and
village enterprises. In particular, there exist quite a few difficulties in
the building of administrative organs at the township and village level where
management power is weak and the ranks unstable. In addition, there are great
imbalances among regions and there are still quite a big gap in the
development between the eastern regions and the central and western regions.
These problems of township and village enterprises in the process of reform
and development warrant great attention and must be resolved in a serious
manner.
II.GOALS,TASKS AND MAJOR MEASURES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF TOWNSHIP AND
VILLAGE ENTERPRISES IN THE NEXT FIFTEEN YEARS
Township and village enterprises constitute an important point of growth
full of vigor in China’s rural economy and national economy and shoulder
heavy, new historic responsibilities in the process of implementation of
period, a steady growth in such major agricultural produce as cereals, cotton
and oils should be guaranteed in rural economy and foodgrain production
should reach a new level; it should be guaranteed that peasants’ income has
a fast increase, the question of food and clothing of the poverty-stricken
people resolved so that they reach the well-to-do living standards. By 2010,
another new stride should be made in overall agricultural production
capability, rural economy and peasants income level. Realization of these
goals and tasks requires that township and village enterprises continue to
pursue the policy of encouraging subsidization, development and stimulation
of agriculture by industry, that they have a bigger share in the growth of
peasants’ income and that they absorb more rural surplus labor. Realization
of the goals for the Nineth Five-Year Plan and 2010 for the national economy
requires that township and village enterprises make new contributions in
increase of effective supply of society, increase in financial revenue,
expansion of export and foreign exchange earnings, promotion of the nation’s
industrialization and enhancement of the comprehensive national power.
Therefore, whether township and village enterprises has a new and bigger
development and upgrading has a direct bearing on the realization of the
strategic goals of the second and third stages of the country’s modernization.
It is not only necessary but also completely possible that township and
village enterprises achieve a new and bigger development and upgrading.
During the past dozen of years, township and village enterprises have
acquired considerable strength, accumulated rich experiences and provided
the foundation for development and upgrading; rich resources of farm produce,
minerals and large pool of surplur labor in China’s rural areas have provided
the necessary conditions for development and upgrading; the growing enthusiasm
and creativeness of hundreds of millions of peasants to eradicate poverty,
become rich and strive for well-to-do living standards is the powerful
inherent driving force for development and upgrading; implementation of
the gradual establishment and perfection of the socialist market economic
system, consolidation of the basic position of agriculture, enhancement of
the vigor of state-owned enterprises, the great importance attached by the
Party committees and governments at all levels and strong support by all
walks of life of society have created good external environment for township
and village enterprises. In the process of development and upgrading, township
and village enterprises have rare opportunities but are also faced with
serious challenges, especially under the circumstances that market competition
has become increasingly fierce, there are relative shortage of resources,
serious shortage of talents, weakening advantages in mechanism and low
overall quality, it has become all the more necessary to emancipate the
mind, firm confidence, enhance the sense of responsibility, urgency and
crisis, unswervingly press ahead the development and upgrading of township
and village enterprises.
In the next fifteen years, township and village enterprises should
achieve faster growth in economic aggregate and bigger upgrading in overall
standards. During the Nineth Five-Year Plan period, the average annual growth
rate of increment value of township and village enterprises can be maintained
at around 15%. Efforts should be made to realize the increment value of
township and village enterprises to the tune of RMB 3,000 billion Yuan by the
year 2000, increment value of industries amounting to RMB 2,000 billion Yuan,
shipped value of export commodities reaching around RMB 1,000 billion Yuan,
newly-emplaced rural surplus labor force 30 million people, and number of
persons engaged reaching 160 million people. Township and village enterprises
should continue to maintain a good momentum of development by 2010.
To realize the afore-said goals and tasks, the general guidelines for the
reform and development of township and village enterprises are: taking
Deng Xiao-ping’s theory of building socialism with Chinese characteristics
and the Party’s basic line as the guidance, putting into practice seriously
the spirit of the Fifth and Sixth Plenary Sessions of the Fourteenth Central
Committee of the Communist Party of China, implementing
Development> and
and material civilizations, actively promote the basic transformation of
the operational mechanism, taking market demand as the guidance, taking
reform and opening up as the driving force, centering around improvement
in quality and efficiency, give full play to the advantages, optimize the
structures, be rational in distribution, continuously improve mechanism,
rely on scientific and technological advancement, strengthen enterprise
management, enhance overall quality and push township and village enterprises
to a new height.
Development of township and village enterprises should, in real earnest,
shift to the track of relying on scientific and technological advancement and
improving the quality of laborers, improve scale economic efficiency and
technological advancement efficiency, scientific management efficiency and
optimized structure efficiency, embarking on a path of development with
less input, more output, good quality and high efficiency. The eastern
regions should lay stress on improvement, seeking development in improvement;
the central and western regions should put emphasis on development, seeking
improvement in development.
(1) Keep on deepening enterprise reform. Deepening reform of township and
village enterprises must adhere to the standards that they are in the
interest of the development of the national economy, the enhancement