Township Enterprises Face New Challenges, OpportunitiesChina's township enterprises must speed up establishment of modern enterprise system and upgrade the overall quality to meet future challenges.Qi Jingfa, Chinese vice-minister of Agriculture, said that the pro-active fiscal policy and stable monetary policy that China has adopted for many years will directly or indirectly stimulate development of the township enterprises. The country's massive "go-west movement" will create many new business opportunities for these farmer-managed enterprises, said Qi at an economic and trade fair held recently in central China's Henan Province. Qi said that research institutes, colleges and universities have becoming more swift in turning their research achievements into products. That will provide more chances for township enterprises to upgrade their products with advanced technologies provided by these research organizations. Township enterprises will become more competitive in the field of labor-intensive industries since the labor cost is relatively low in China's rural areas. This will serve as an edge of the township enterprises over other enterprises once China enters the WTO, he said. China's township enterprises chalked up profits of 272.4 billion yuan during the first half of this year, up 14 percent over the same period of last year. They have exported goods valued at 342.6 billion yuan, a 16 percent increase over the same 1999 period. Many provinces have created industrial zones to accommodate township enterprises, helping the rural firms establish an efficient organizational structure. |
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