THE DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL SHAREHOLDING COOPERATIVE ENTERPRISES IN MAINLAND CHINA

Shareholding cooperative enterprises, which sprang up quietly in rural areas in the mid-1980s, have quickly developed since Teng Hsiaoping's (Deng Xiaoping's) visit to south China in 1992. They are a new type o f economic organization developed by the peasants to suit the present conditions of the rural market economy. Despite a lack of sound intern al mechanisms and coordination of government policies, the shareholdin g cooperative system will be the principal orientation of mainland Chi na's rural economic reforms and the reform of the collective economies in cities and towns. Having the characteristics of both the collectiv e cooperative system and the private shareholding system, it will beco me the most prominent feature of socialism with Chinese characteristic s.