¡¡ In the past 50 years since the founding of New China, especially in the last 20 years after launching of reform and opening up, township enterprises have with remarkable success made become a main economic force in rural China and a new rising force reinforcing the Chinese economy. According to statistics released by the State Statistics Bureau in 1998, township enterprises in China accomplished a total of RMB$2218.6 billion yuan of added value, accounting for 27.9% of the country's GDP. Taxes turned to the state totaled RMB$153.8 billion yuan, taking up 20.4% of the national.

¡¡ Township enterprises in China had originated from the country's development of communal handicraft industries in the rural areas. Rural industry began to develop in the 50s in China till the end of 1959. A total of over 700,000 small-sized country-based factories were set up and run with a workforce of 5 million and an output value of 10 billion yuan created. Township enterprises were first launched in the 70s in the coastal areas of China, then spread to the whole rural areas of the Chinese land. An output value of RMB$49.3 billion yuan was created in 1978. Reform and opening brought the country's township enterprises onto a new stage of rapid development. The development reached its first peak during the years from 1978 to 1988 till 1988: A total of 18.88 million enterprises were formed, with 95.46 million workers employed, and a total income of 423.2 billion yuan made. The second peak followed from 1992 to 1994, many large and medium-sized enterprises and modern enterprise conglomerates were founded. In 1992, an output value of RMB$1797.5 billion yuan was accomplished to show a growth of 54.7% over the preceding year, a 75.5% increase in 1993 over 1992, and 1.4-fold growth in 1994 over 1992, with a 1.3 times growth in net profit. After 1995, the township enterprises entered a stage of steady development. At the end of 1998, there were altogether a total of 20.04 million township enterprises that had been founded. The per capita income of farmers drawn from township enterprises reached RMB$700 yuan, about one third of their total income.