Glossary

The All-China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives — the system's apex federation and industry-guidance hub, which issues policy and coordinates reform.

A provincial-, regional- or municipal-level supply and marketing cooperative federation, responsible for coordination and industry guidance in its area; 32 in total.

Prefectural- and county-level federations; the county federation is the key pivot connecting grassroots cooperatives and organising business and services.

Cooperatives established at the township/village level that sell to and buy from farmers directly — the frontline of the system.

A business enterprise capitalised by a supply and marketing cooperative federation at any level (agricultural inputs, circulation, cold chain, recycling, etc.), forming the market-facing business line.

A federated organisation made up of lower-tier cooperatives and member cooperatives, responsible for industry guidance, coordination and oversight of federation-owned assets — the “cooperative” line.

“Separation of cooperative and enterprise, connected top to bottom”: federations (the industry-guidance line) and federation-owned enterprises (the market-facing business line) are kept separate yet coordinated.

The 2015 central government decision on deepening the comprehensive reform of supply and marketing cooperatives, which established reform directions such as services for agriculture and the dual-line model.

Bringing in farmer cooperatives, agriculture-related enterprises and other diverse actors to broaden the cooperatives' reach and service coverage.

A county- or township-level comprehensive service hub that delivers socialised agricultural services (such as seedling raising, drying and agro-technical support).

Specialised services covering ploughing, sowing, protection, harvesting, drying and storage, connecting smallholders to modern agriculture.

Farmers entrust the cultivation and management of their land to a service provider while retaining contract rights — a representative China-style scaled service.

An exploration of an agricultural-service system combining production, supply-and-marketing and credit cooperation (originating from Zhejiang's experience).

A three-tier county–township–village network for the circulation of goods and services, handling the two-way flow of industrial goods into rural areas and farm produce into cities.

An online sales platform for farm and sideline products from formerly poverty-stricken areas, operated by China Coop E-commerce — a government-procurement-driven, consumption-based assistance e-commerce channel.

Ensuring the stable supply of fertiliser, seed and other agricultural inputs; the coop system supplies about 70% of the nation's fertiliser.

The network for recycling and reusing scrap materials that the coop system operates, linking the circular economy with the integration of urban-rural sanitation networks.

An investment-and-operating platform (holding company) formed by federations at each level to coordinate federation-owned capital and enterprise operations; all 32 provincial federations have established one.

A dedicated fund established by federations at each level to support primary cooperatives and services for agriculture, totaling about RMB 2.4 billion system-wide.

Federation-owned enterprises adopt corporate governance structures and strengthen oversight of federation-owned assets while staying committed to serving agriculture.