As a bridge between city and countryside, industry and agriculture, producer and consumer, Rural Supply and Marketing Cooperatives (RSMCs) play a key role in distributing commodities and purchasing rural products for some 800 million people in China. While overall national economic reform...

In contrast to the situation in western countries at the time of their industrialization, it has been and still is impossible for rural labour in China to move to the urban sector for employment. For this and other reasons, including shortage of arable land and population growth, lack of...