Township and Village Enterprises

Township and Village Enterprises (TVEs, simplified Chinese: 乡镇企业; traditional Chinese: 鄉鎮企業; pinyin: Xiāngzhèn qǐyè) are market-oriented public enterprises under the purview of local governments based in townships and villages in China.





== History ==





=== Before the Reform and Opening ===

Although Chinese paramount leader Deng Xiaoping was reported to have said that TVEs "appear(ed) out of nowhere" in 1987, the industrial development in rural China could be traced back to as early as 1950s. During this period, rural enterprises, often with names "commune and brigade enterprises" and of neglectable size, served as a supplement to those state-owned enterprises (SOE), which mainly focused on heavy industrial sectors, and were established by the people's communes and bridges to support agricultural production and to produce rural social products for local and domestic needs. The political turmoil between late 1950s and early 1960s, like the Great Leap Forward, at one time halted the development of rural enterprises and some were suspended. Nevertheless, encouraged by the Chinese government to produce rural social goods, the enthusiasm of rural enterprises increased again in 1965. According to official records, the number of rural enterprise was about 122,000 in 1965, and quickly increased to 447,000 in 1970. During this period, however, rural enterprises were restricted to certain industrial and agricultural sections, including the production of iron, steel, cement, chemical fertilizer, hydroelectric power, and farm tools.

The Third Front campaign had also contributed to the development of the industrial base and human talent for the subsequent development of TVEs.: 297–298 





=== After 1978 ===

From 1978 to 1988, township enterprises experienced rapid growth due to the preferential treatment under the "reform and opening-up" policy.

Most TVEs emerged during the Reform period in the 1980s (Huang, 2008). There were only 1.5 million in 1978, at the start of the Reform period, and after the State Council of the People's Republic of China first officially used the term "Township and Village Enterprises" in March, 1984, number of TVEs had been over 12 millions by 1985.