Zhang Jia: Promoting Common Prosperity through the Development of the New Rural Collective Economy
Common prosperity is an essential requirement of socialism and a key characteristic of Chinese-path modernization. As an important form of realizing the socialist economy of public ownership, strengthening the rural collective economy is a vital path for leading the peasantry toward the achievement of common prosperity. The new quality rural collective economy is a novel economic form in which members of village collectives utilize new business models to integrate collective resources and achieve common development through cooperation or association. Developing and strengthening the new quality rural collective economy is a critical way to promote agricultural modernization and enhance rural productive forces and peasant incomes; it holds great significance for advancing common prosperity.
The "New" Connotations of the New Quality Rural Collective Economy
As a new form of the economy of collective ownership, the new quality rural collective economy is the sum of various new economic relations. Compared to the traditional rural collective economy, the new quality rural collective economy possesses "new" connotations and characteristics, such as clear property rights relations, diverse modes of participation, and multifaceted business models.
First, clear property rights relations provide the basis for the distribution of peasant income. Prior to the launch of China’s pilot work on property rights reform, collective economies in various regions faced issues such as unclear asset ownership and non-standardized management. Along with the increasing perfection of the socialist market economy system, the new quality rural collective economy has fully released the vitality of rural development, effectively revitalized scattered rural resources, and creatively quantified collective operating assets. These collective operating assets, quantified through converted shares, have driven the "quantification reform" characterized by "turning peasants into shareholders, resources into assets, and capital into equity" [1]. This helps organization members better share in the fruits of collective economic development.
Second, diversified participants reflect a more refined rural governance system. Traditional rural collective economies featured a single type of participant, with production and business decisions generally carried out through unified planning by a small number of actors. The new quality rural collective economy emphasizes the role of market mechanisms, relying primarily on the voluntary participation of peasants, while incorporating diverse subjects such as leading enterprises, peasant cooperatives, specialized large-scale households, and family farms. Production and business decision-making have become more standardized and democratic. This decision-making mechanism aids in constructing a more complete regulatory system and strengthening the capacity for supervision and management of collective assets, thereby refining the rural governance system.
Third, diversified business models promote a virtuous cycle in agricultural production. Unlike the traditional rural collective economy, which generated collective operating income mostly through village collective enterprises, the new quality rural collective economy encompasses independent operations by the village collective, as well as diversified models such as cooperation, equity investment, and contracting based on village collective assets. Simultaneously, the development of specialized industries, socialized services, and property leasing provide more diverse forms for the development of the rural collective economy. In the process of diversified and multifaceted operations, the new quality rural collective economy not only significantly improves economic efficiency but also drives the continuous improvement of the rural ecological environment, ensuring that agricultural production operates efficiently along a virtuous track.
Currently, the new quality rural collective economy has achieved certain results in peasant income distribution, rural social governance, and the development of agricultural production. However, restricted by various factors, it still faces many difficulties and problems. First, human resources are relatively scarce. In addition to the insufficient construction of internal talent pools, the acceleration of urbanization has made the phenomena of "rural hollowing" [2] and aging more prominent, affecting the development of the rural collective economy. Second, there is a lack of capital investment, manifested in limited external fiscal support and obstructed financing channels, which constrains further development. Third, industrial development faces difficulties. The decentralization and fragmentation of land production and management increase the difficulty of resource integration; furthermore, because collective property rights remain unclear in some areas, the link between collective returns and individual income is weak, resulting in limited incentives for developing the collective economy.
Enhancing the Capacities to "Lead Wealth," "Create Wealth," and "Achieve Wealth"
To solidly promote common prosperity for peasants and rural areas, it is necessary to give full play to the unique advantages of the new quality rural collective economy. By promoting the leadership of talent, broadening capital channels, and stimulating industrial development, we can effectively enhance the rural collective economy's capacity to "lead wealth," "create wealth," and "achieve wealth."
First, promote the leadership of talent to enhance the "leading wealth" capacity of the new quality rural collective economy. 1. Give full play to the role of primary-level Party organizations. Primary-level Party organizations are the "backbone" for developing the new quality rural collective economy and serve as an important bridge between national policies and village development. We must fully leverage the entrepreneurial enthusiasm of primary-level Party organizations, especially village Party branch secretaries. Timely commendations and rewards should be given to "leading figures" in management who have made significant achievements and prominent contributions to developing the village collective economy. 2. Improve the mechanisms for attracting and cultivating talent. Encourage groups such as Party members with entrepreneurial ability and intent, university-student village officials [3], and retired Party members and cadres returning to their home villages to promote the construction of modern agricultural industrial parks and agricultural entrepreneurship bases by starting economic entities, leading peasant specialized cooperatives, or introducing projects. Rely on village Party organizations and village committees to conduct training for rural practical technical talent, cultivating more technical and management personnel required for collective economic development. 3. Strengthen the talent retention mechanism. Accelerate the establishment of flexible evaluation mechanisms where evaluation indicators for management and technical positions are differentiated, providing precise guidance for understanding talent development and promoting the healthy growth of the talent pool.
Second, broaden capital channels to enhance the "wealth creation" capacity of the new quality rural collective economy. 1. Increase fiscal support. Support the investment and construction of rural collective economic organizations by establishing special funds; additionally, actively guide more social capital toward rural collective economic development through interest subsidies and rewards. Simultaneously, integrate various collective economic industries and strengthen support for villages with weak collective incomes to promote the balanced and synchronized development of the rural collective economy. 2. Stimulate the internal vitality of village collectives. Improve agricultural product quality and production efficiency by introducing modern agricultural technology and management models, thereby increasing operating income and forming a self-"blood-making" [4] capacity. Attract social capital investment through intra-village industries and use various investment funds to achieve capital accumulation and amplification effects. 3. Innovate financial service models. Enrich and expand rural financial products to provide comprehensive loan support for peasant households. Enhance peasants' awareness of and participation in agricultural insurance, and develop distinctive agricultural insurance projects based on local foundations and characteristics to effectively promote the development of the local rural collective economy.
Third, promote industrial development to enhance the "wealth attainment" capacity of the new quality rural collective economy. 1. Implement village-specific policies to promote diversified development. Based on the actual conditions of each village, develop diverse collective economic models—such as resource integration and utilization, labor export, management services, and collective development and operation—to effectively integrate resources, improve resource utilization rates, and prevent homogenized competition. Innovate economic development models to improve the alignment between preferential policies and resource development, aiding the rapid development of local specialized industries. 2. Expand development space and innovate development paths. Give full play to the advantages of local pillar and specialized industries, promote the establishment of peasant specialized cooperative federations, and vigorously cultivate agricultural product brands with unique regional characteristics. Encourage village collectives to take the lead in developing various forms of socialized agricultural services, providing paid services before, during, and after production. Give full play to the "head goose" [5] role of rural collective economic organizations to provide various forms of intermediary services for the smooth connection between small households and large markets. 3. Actively promote mixed-ownership management and clarify the status of collective economic organizations as market entities. Relying on the Rural Collective Economic Organizations Law of the People's Republic of China, determine the market legal person status of rural collective economic organizations. Encourage these organizations to carry out mixed-ownership operations and structural ownership reforms with external enterprises in the form of corporate legal persons, accelerating the transformation of collective assets into shareholder assets and further consolidating the status of rural collective economic organizations as operating subjects. Utilize digital means to improve the supervision and management model of rural collective assets and enhance their management level and tradability, creating a favorable environment for promoting the mixed-ownership management of the rural collective economy.
(The author is an Associate Professor at the School of Economics and Management, Yangtze University) Source: Guangming Daily (February 3, 2026) Editor: Huihui