Farmer Cooperatives in China: Diverse Pathways to Sustainable Rural Development

This text explores the state of cooperatives in China, detailing the 2007 Chinese Farmer Professional Cooperative Act which was a way to encourage the modernization of agriculture and their integration into the economy. This resulted in a large boost to the number of farming cooperatives. This act allowed farmers to have more control over what they would like to plant and how to sell it, which was previously under the domain of the government. It is estimated that 9.7% of all rural households had a member participating in a cooperative in some way. If we inspect this reform closer, we see that most of those benefiting are only those cooperatives interested in market integration. For example, the Chinese government helps cooperatives to sell their produce by organizing deals with local supermarket chains. However, other kinds of cooperatives such as those focusing on ecology, sustainability and local culture and society are often left without any government support.