Rural Cooperative Finance in China: History, Development and Prospects

Chen HE Département de gestion stratégique, Agricultural Bank of China ; doctorante en sciences économiques, université du peuple (Renmin University of China) ; auteur correspondant de l’article.

Gu SHENGZU Membre, Commission permanente de l’Assemblée nationale populaire (ANP) ; vice-président, Commission des affaires juridiques internes, ANP ; professeur, université du peuple (Renmin University of China) ; économiste.

Rural cooperative finance, targeting small farmers, is one of the three pillars of rural finance in China. Historically, its development has taken three forms of organization: rural credit union, rural cooperative fund and mutual fund. Because of changes in market and policies’ environment, but especially of the abandonment of cooperative principles, the credit union has become a commercial financial institution and cooperative fund disappeared. The current practices of mutual aid funds are paving the way for the future development of the rural cooperative finance relying on the integration of financial and economic cooperatives.