Township Enterprises
Township enterprises are cooperatives of various forms and individual-owned businesses located in the countryside. They can be rural collective economic entities or businesses run by farmers in towns and villages. Such enterprises began to boom across the country in the 1980s along with rural reform.
In March 1984, the central authorities renamed all the businesses formerly belonging to production teams or people's communes "township enterprises." In terms of ownership, they were run by townships, villages, groups of households or individuals, and their businesses covered agriculture, manufacturing, transportation, construction, commerce, catering, repairs and other services.
Township enterprises boomed from 1984 to 1988. Their growth slowed down from 1989 to 1991, during which many of them adjusted their structure to tide over the difficulties. Then there came a second boom period from 1992 to 1994, and a large number of big or medium-sized enterprises and modern corporate groups emerged. Since 1995, township enterprises have maintained steady growth.
In October 1996, China adopted its Law on Township Enterprises to better regulate the planning and management of these rural businesses. Since then, the state has adopted a series of major measures to encourage a large number of rural businesses to engage in agriculture, and to promote their transformation and upgrading by developing agricultural resources and tapping the potential of agriculture. The government has supported their innovative development, in the expectation that innovation will lead to startups, startups will create more jobs, and more jobs will bring higher incomes, which will boost rural revitalization and the modernization of agriculture and rural areas.
Township enterprises were another miracle created by Chinese farmers in addition to the household contract responsibility system. While growing into a major component of China's economy, particular the rural economy, these enterprises have reduced the rural areas' reliance on agriculture and helped farmers attain prosperity. Various models have emerged in developing local businesses, such as those created in southern Jiangsu Province, Wenzhou of Zhejiang Province, Gengche Town of northern Jiangsu, and the Pearl River Delta region. These models offer new approaches to solving issues related to agriculture, rural areas and farmers, and help promote rural China's industrialization, urbanization and modernization.
鄉鎮企業
鄉鎮企業，就是中國鄉鎮地區多形式、多層次、多門類、多渠道的合作企業和個體企業的統稱，即農村集體經濟組織或者農民投資為主，在鄉鎮（包括所轄村）開辦的承擔支援農業義務的各類企業。20世紀80年代以來，隨著中國農村改革的深入，鄉鎮企業異軍突起，迅速發展。
1984年3月，中共中央、國務院在轉發農牧漁業部《關于開創社隊企業新局面的報告》的通知中，開始把原來的社隊企業改稱為鄉鎮企業，賦予鄉鎮企業以不同于社隊企業的新的性質和內容。從所有權上看，鄉鎮企業包括鄉鎮辦、村辦、聯戶辦、個體辦等企業。從門類看，鄉鎮企業包括農業、工業、交通運輸業、建筑業以及商業、飲食、服務、修理等企業。1984年至1988年鄉鎮企業進入第一個全面發展的高峰期。1989年至1991年，在三年治理整頓期間，鄉鎮企業發展速度減緩，許多企業苦練內功，調整結構，渡過了難關。1992年至1994年是鄉鎮企業發展的第二個高峰期，涌現出一批大中型企業和現代化企業集團。1995年以后，鄉鎮企業進入穩步發展的時期。1996年10月，《中華人民共和國鄉鎮企業法》正式出臺，標志著中國鄉鎮企業的規劃和管理走上了法制軌道。此后，國家在“三農”方面采取了一系列重大措施，吸引大量鄉鎮企業回歸農業，聚焦農業資源開發，彰顯農業特色優勢，促進鄉鎮企業轉型提升。中共十八大以來，國家按照“基在農業、惠在農村、利在農民”原則，推進鄉鎮企業創新發展，逐漸形成以創新帶創業、以創業帶就業、以就業帶增收的良好局面，為實施鄉村振興戰略、實現農業農村現代化發揮重要作用。
鄉鎮企業是中國農民繼家庭聯產承包責任制后的又一偉大創造。鄉鎮企業深刻地改變了農村經濟單純依靠農業發展的格局，加快了農民致富奔小康的進程，已成為農村經濟的重要支柱和國民經濟的重要組成部分。全國各地在興辦企業的實踐中，創造出了一些具有地區特色的模式，如蘇南模式、溫州模式、耿車模式、珠江模式等，為解決好農業、農村、農民問題，推進中國特色農村工業化、城鎮化、現代化探索出了一條新路。
