What is the significance of restoring and rebuilding supply and marketing cooperatives for Chinese agriculture?

What is the significance of restoring and rebuilding supply and marketing cooperatives for Chinese agriculture?Cooperatives December 14, 2022How to view the resurgence of “popularity” of supply and marketing cooperatives?1.jpgRecently, reports on the “restoration and reconstruction of supply and marketing cooperatives” in Hubei and other areas have attracted public attention. Some people are worried about returning to the old path of planned economy, while others believe that this can solve the “last mile” problem.How to view the resurgence of “popularity” in supply and marketing cooperatives?Is the supply and marketing cooperative considered a “comeback”?In 2021, the No. 1 central document focused on comprehensively promoting rural revitalization and speeding up agricultural and rural modernization, which also clearly proposed to deepen the comprehensive reform of supply and marketing cooperatives, carry out the “trinity” comprehensive cooperation pilot of production, supply and marketing, and credit, and improve the comprehensive platform for serving farmers’ production and life.What is the role of a supply and marketing cooperative?What changes have occurred now and in the past?In the era of planned economy, supply and marketing cooperatives almost monopolized the buying and selling of hundreds of millions of Chinese farmers through “unified purchase and sales”, ranging from firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, tea, to fertilizer seeds and fuel. The agricultural and sideline products produced by farmers must also go through supply and marketing cooperatives in order to reach various parts of the country. In the era of planned economy, supply and marketing cooperatives were essential state-owned service organizations in the daily lives of the people.2.jpgWith the continuous deepening of the comprehensive reform of the national supply and marketing cooperatives, they can do more. Although the circulation of agricultural products remains the traditional main business of supply and marketing cooperatives, the role of assisting agriculture is becoming increasingly prominent.For example, the “nanny style” and “menu style” land trusteeship services include the entire industrial chain services of cultivation, planting, management, collection, and sales, solving the problem of farmers being unable to do, unable to do well, and uneconomical in decentralized management from household to household; There is also agricultural technology “going up mountains and down to the countryside”, which introduces emerging technologies such as drones, green biopesticides, and agricultural waste resource utilization into the fields; The “trinity” cooperation model of production, supply and marketing, and credit relies on rural business service outlets to handle basic banking financial services on behalf of banks, solving difficulties in farmers’ financing, and so on.Why are we in big cities like Beijing nowIs there a modern supply and marketing cooperative?Unlike the traditional impression that supply and marketing cooperatives only have business outlets in rural areas, at this stage, the business scope of enterprises funded by the All China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives covers agricultural means of production, circulation of daily necessities, wholesale of agricultural products, e-commerce, cold chain logistics, etc., and the main business locations are in counties and below. In cities, supply and marketing cooperatives mainly operate as “neighborhood centers” and “central kitchens”.The “Neighborhood Center” is a community convenience commercial center that serves community residents and aims to meet their daily needs for goods and services. It integrates various formats and functions. The “Supply and Marketing Convenience Service Center” seen in Beijing is a form of “Neighborhood Center”.3.pngIn addition, the development of neighborhood centers can serve the renovation of old communities and the supporting facilities of new communities, creating a one-stop lifestyle service community, making the lives of community residents more convenient, comfortable, and beautiful, and making neighborhood centers a “benchmark project for inclusive livelihood”; It is of great significance to effectively connect cities and rural areas, promote the entry of agricultural products into cities, assist in the sales of agricultural products and increase farmers’ income, and meet the growing needs of the people for a better life.Supply and Marketing Cooperatives’ ‘Rejuvenation of Popularity’What signal was released behind the scenesThe “resurgence” of supply and marketing cooperatives actually reflects the high importance that the country attaches to rural revitalization and the work related to agriculture, rural areas, and farmers.Firstly, the country attaches great importance to the role of supply and marketing cooperatives in rural revitalization. For example, the “Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Implementing the Rural Revitalization Strategy” supports supply and marketing, postal services, and various enterprises to extend their service outlets to rural areas, and improve the stable linkage mechanism between agricultural product production and sales; In June 2021, 17 departments, including the Ministry of Commerce and the General Supply and Marketing Cooperative, issued the Opinions on Strengthening the Construction of County Commercial System to Promote Rural Consumption. The General Supply and Marketing Cooperative will transform rural traditional commercial outlets, carry out enterprise digitalization and chain transformation, build and transform the origin market, agricultural trade market and vegetable market, improve the backbone network of agricultural product circulation, and develop the joint distribution of county and rural logistics, To play an important role in strengthening the long-term mechanism of production and sales coordination.Secondly, the supply and marketing cooperatives take the opportunity of the county-level circulation service network, adhere to the fundamental purpose of “serving agriculture”, and smooth the two-way circulation channels of “agricultural products up and daily necessities down”.In November 2021, the Supply and Marketing Corporation formulated the Implementation Opinions on Promoting the Construction and Improvement of County Circulation Service Network of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives. The opinion points out that during the 14th Five Year Plan period, the supply and marketing system should carry out actions to enhance the county-level circulation service network of supply and marketing cooperatives, establish and improve a three-level county-level circulation service network supported by circulation backbone enterprises, with county towns as hubs, towns as nodes, and villages as terminals, and strive to achieve logistics distribution centers and chain supermarkets in counties, comprehensive supermarkets in towns, and comprehensive service cooperatives in villages. The comprehensive service function of “one network, multiple uses, and two-way circulation” is fully utilized, and the scale of the entire system’s operation in the rural consumer market is further expanded, and the level of agricultural product circulation is significantly improved,Supply and marketing cooperatives fully leverage their network advantages of multiple points, long lines, and wide coverage, firmly grasp the major opportunity to strengthen the construction of county-level commercial systems, accelerate the construction of a county-level circulation service network with reasonable layout, complete functions, and efficient operation, and promote the improvement and expansion of rural consumption.4.jpgNational Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives:Doing a Good Job in Industry Assistance “Combination Fist”Polishing designated assistance for “characteristic brands”The All China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives has deeply implemented the important directive spirit of targeted assistance work. Since the beginning of this year, the headquarters has achieved positive results in targeted assistance work. While accelerating the completion of work tasks, the headquarters’ rural revitalization work has closely focused on the task goals, taken multiple measures, united efforts, and made every effort in accordance with the annual targeted assistance work plan.The Party group and council of the headquarters attach great importance to targeted assistance work and always firmly shoulder the responsibility of work. Based on the new stage of development, strictly following the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, focusing on the “three turns” work requirements, fully leveraging the industry advantages of supply and marketing cooperatives, focusing on assisting the development of agricultural characteristic industries in the county, discussing development strategies with the county, coordinating and mobilizing resources and forces from all aspects, playing a good role in the “combination punch” of the headquarters’ industrial assistance, and polishing the designated “characteristic brand” of the headquarters’ assistance, Help the county to comprehensively promote rural revitalization with heart and effort.At the 19th Agricultural Trade Fair to be held in Guangzhou this year, China Supply and Marketing Group Co., Ltd. plans to exhibition an area of over 600 square meters. In addition to helping more farmers improve the level of agricultural mechanization production, it will also focus on the entire agricultural industry chain, farmer cooperatives, various social service organizations, rural circulation service networks, agricultural material supply security, and other aspects to solve common problems in current agricultural and rural development, and promote China’s agriculture along the path of intensification The path of efficient, safe, and sustainable modern agricultural development is advancing with great strides.