Jun WU, Tao HUANG

1. School of Economics, Anhui University of Finance and Economics, Bengbu 233030, China; 2. Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, China

Abstract The new agricultural business entity is the representative of the "new" productive forces in the countryside. Based on the analysis of the connotation of the new agricultural business entity, this paper further explains the new characteristics of the new agricultural business entity, such as internationalization, informatization, greening, ecologization, and organizational integration. The new type of agricultural business entity is the innovation of socialist agricultural management system with Chinese characteristics, which has brought new institutional performance to agricultural and rural modernization, and caused changes in the rural governance body and its structure in terms of production relations. The traditional basic subject "villager" has changed to "professional farmer", "homogenization" to "heterogeneity" and "diversification", and governance pattern to "unitary leading and pluralistic participation". These developments and changes reflect the dialectical relationship movement between rural productive forces and production relations, economic base and superstructure. New agricultural business entity, rural governance body and their structural system have become an important basis for rural revitalization.

Key words New agricultural business entity, Rural governance body, Rural revitalization

1 Introduction

The new type of agricultural business entity is not only the representative of rural new productive forces and an important driving force of agricultural and rural development, but also the innovation of socialist agricultural management system with Chinese characteristics. The development of the new type of agricultural business entity is not only the basis of the construction of "agricultural industrial system, production system and management system", but also directly promotes the change of rural production relations, and then brings about the change of rural governance body and its structure. It has become the institutional, organizational and economic basis for promoting rural revitalization and the integration of urban and rural areas.

2 The connotation, characteristics and development of the new agricultural business entity

2.1 The connotation of the new agricultural business entity

The agricultural business entity refers to any social group and individual who is directly or indirectly engaged in the production, processing, sale and service of agricultural products[1]. The concept of "new" agricultural business entity was put forward not long ago. Before 2012, the term "new agricultural business entity" was only mentioned in some theoretical and policy research articles. After 2012, new business entities began to appear in the official documents of the central and local governments. For example, Zhejiang Province formally issued theOpinionsonVigorouslyCultivatingNewAgriculturalBusinessEntities. At the Central Rural Economic Work Conference at the end of 2012, it was formally proposed to cultivate "new business entities"[2]. In theOpinionsoftheGeneralOfficeofthePeople’sGovernmentofZhejiangProvinceonVigorouslyCultivatingaNewTypeofAgriculturalBusinessEntity, the new agricultural business entities refer to the agricultural management organizations with large scale, high intensity and strong market competitiveness under the household contract management system, and farmers who are educated and know how to operate.

The researchers also give different definitions to the connotation of the new agricultural business entity. Guo Qinghai[1]gave a relatively simple definition: the new agricultural business entity is an agricultural economic organization based on the family management system, and it has a relatively large operation scale and adapts to modern agriculture and market economy. Chen Xiwen[2]stressed that in the process of cultivating new agricultural business entity, we must adhere to the direction of common development on the basis of family management and diversified forms of operation. Song Hongyuanetal.[3]defined the new agricultural business entity as an agricultural management organization with relatively large operation scale, better material equipment conditions and management level, and high labor production, resource utilization and land output rate, whose main goal is commercial production. Chen Xiaohua[4]believes that the new agricultural business entity, as an organizational form of modern agricultural production and operation with a high degree of organization and socialization based on household contract management, adapts to the requirements of market economy and the development of agricultural productive forces, and engages in specialized and intensive production and management. It can be seen that the connotation of the new agricultural business entity is a constantly developing concept, and different scholars have different definitions, but what they have in common is that they all emphasize the basic status of household contract management. The scale, organization, diversity and sociality of the new agricultural business entity, as well as marketization and intensification, are also the differences between the new agricultural business entity and the traditional agricultural business entity.

2.2 New characteristics of new agricultural business entity

The new agricultural business entity has the characteristics of large-scale, marketization, intensification, high management level, equipment level and technical level,etc.In the process of development, it also presents some new characteristics, such as internationalization, green ecological sustainability, informatization, organizational integration and so on.

2.2.1Internationalization. With the deepening of opening up to the outside world, Chinese agriculture and farmers are more oriented to the international market, to international competition, and to international rules. China occupies an important position in world agricultural trade. In 2015, the international market share of China’s agricultural exports was 5.7%, second only to the European Union, the United States and Brazil, while the international market share of imports was 9.8%, second only to the European Union and the United States. From the perspective of time series, the international imports and exports market share of China’s agricultural products is on the rise[5]. China is a big agricultural product trading country, but it is not strong enough. In 2011, China overtook the United States to become the world’s largest importer of agricultural products, according to WTO data. In recent years, there has been a "simultaneous increase in grain output, stocks and imports" in agriculture, which reflects that the international competitiveness of China’s agriculture is still weak. In the future, with the improvement of the degree of agricultural development and the further integration of the domestic market and the international market, we will not only face competition from developed countries with rich agricultural resources and a high level of agricultural modernization, but also face competition from developing countries with obvious labor advantages. The supply-side structural reform of agriculture is to improve the comprehensive efficiency and competitiveness of agriculture. "international competitiveness" is an important connotation of "competitiveness". In the view of Chen Xiwen[6], the current problems in China’s grain production reflect that we do not have the required mind and vision to consider grain production from a global perspective. The development of the new type of agricultural business entity needs to make overall use of both domestic and international markets and resources, in order to make more contribution to agricultural supply-side structural reform and agricultural modernization.

2.2.2Green ecology and sustainability. At present, the cultivated land in China is obviously degraded, the black soil layer in Northeast China becomes thinner, there is soil acidification in the south, the plough layer in North China Plain becomes shallow, the content of soil organic matter decreases, and the extensive mode of production causes the problems of high cost, low benefit and high pollution. Agriculture has surpassed industry to become the largest non-point source pollution industry in China. Zhang Taolin, vice minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, pointed out that agricultural non-point source pollution is serious and widely distributed, and the overall situation allows for no optimism[7]. "Green" is one of the five major development concepts. In 2017, Document No.1 of the Central Committee emphasized the pursuit of a green mode of production to enhance the sustainable development of agriculture. Green will play a key role in promoting the supply-side structural reform of agriculture, which requires not only the adjustment of the agricultural structure, but also the transformation of the mode of production, and the reshaping of the whole industrial chain from source to stream[8]. The strategy of rural revitalization requires "ecological livability". Green production is an important prerequisite and condition for ecological livability. The agricultural business entity should change the traditional extensive mode of production and take the road of green ecological sustainable development.

2.2.3Informatization. Agricultural informatization refers to the all-round development and application of modern information technology in the field of agriculture, including production process informatization, circulation process informatization, service process informatization and so on. The Third Wave divides the history of human development into three stages—agricultural civilization, industrial civilization and information society, which are now in the information society and will develop in the direction of intelligence and smart agriculture in the future. Informatization is the commanding height of agricultural modernization. At present, rural e-commerce, Internet+modern agriculture, agricultural management informatization, agricultural and rural big data and so on are constantly developing. With the continuous in-depth integration of informatization and agriculture and rural areas, "informatization" has become an important feature of the new agricultural business entity.

2.2.4Organization and fusion. Industrial organization is a concept of industrial economics, which refers to the organizational relationship and market relationship among related enterprises in the same industry. Agricultural organization means that agriculture is no longer limited to single planting industry, but extends to the upstream and downstream industrial chain of agriculture, and develops deep processing, brand agriculture, characteristic agriculture and so on. In terms of industry, factors and interests, different types of business entities in the agricultural industry are connected to form a vertical industrial alliance-agricultural industrialization consortium. Integration mainly refers to the integrated development of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries. In 2015, No.1 central document of the Central Committee put forward the integration of rural industries for the first time, and different scholars have different views. No.1 central document of 2016 once again emphasized the integration of the three industries, pointing out that we should promote the integration of the agricultural industrial chain and the upgrading of the value chain, let farmers share the value-added benefits of industrial integration and development, and cultivate a new model for increasing farmers’ income. The 19thCPC National Congress pointed out that the integration of the three industries is not only an important part of the strategy of rural revitalization, but also an important starting point for the realization of rural revitalization. Agricultural industrialization consortium, agricultural industrial garden and pastoral complex are the carriers of the integration and development of the three industries. Integration also refers to the continuous in-depth integration of information technology into the development of new agricultural business entity. Organization and integration are not only the outstanding characteristics of the development of new agricultural business entities, but also the trend of their further development.

2.3 The "new" development of new agricultural business entities

2.3.1Modern agricultural industrialization consortium has become an important new agricultural business entity. With the development of new agricultural business entities and the continuous innovation of agricultural management system, the agricultural industrialization consortium, an industrial alliance with different agricultural business entities, arises at the historic moment. The agricultural industrialization consortium is a new alliance of agricultural management organizations engaged in the integration of primary, secondary and tertiary industries through the close links of factors, industries and interests among the operators engaged in production, processing and services in the agricultural industry chain, and taking brand construction as the orientation of market demand. Modern agricultural industrialization consortium, as a new management system and organizational form, is an important new force in the new agricultural business entity, which is constantly booming. In 2016, there were 386 000 agricultural industrialization organizations in China, covering 60% of the country’s crop sown area, more than 66.7% of the country’s livestock and poultry raising amount, and more than 100 million farmers. Take Hebei Province as an example, the agricultural industrialization consortium covered more than 80% of farmers in 2020. Agricultural industrialization consortium has become an important new type of agricultural business entity.

2.3.2Collective economy is expected to become an important new agricultural business entity. The rural collective economy is a basic component of the rural economy and an important member of the socialist market economy, which is related to the determination and confidence of farmers to take the socialist road. Rural collective economic organizations implement a two-tier management system based on household contract management and the combination of unification and division. Various forms of cooperative economy on production, supply and marketing, credit and consumption in rural areas, are socialist economy under collective ownership by the working people[9]. In the new period of agricultural supply-side reform and agricultural modernization, the rural collective economy has the characteristics of a new type of agricultural business entity, including the management mode and organizational form of modern enterprises, as well as the characteristics of marketization, scale, intensification and so on. It is also the cornerstone for the construction of rural grass-roots political power and the realization of villagers’ autonomy. If it is autonomy, but without the financial control, then villagers’ autonomy is just a paper tiger[10].

In April 2016, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized at the Symposium on Rural Reform in Xiaogang Village, Fengyang County that efforts should be made to promote the reform of rural collective assets confirmation to households and joint-stock cooperative system. In December of the same year, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued theOpinionsonSteadilyPromotingtheReformofRuralCollectivePropertyRightsSystem(hereinafter referred to as theOpinions). Starting from 2017, we will strive to basically complete the comprehensive assets verification of all collective assets in about three years, improve the account management system, and basically complete the reform of the joint-stock cooperative system of operating assets in about five years. These reform measures are conducive to increasing the new kinetic energy of the development of agriculture, rural areas and farmers, strengthening the collective economy and increasing farmers’ income. At present, rural collective economic organizations in China own 446 million ha of land and other resource assets, and various ledger assets of 2.86 trillion yuan[11], which is an important material basis for the further development of collective economy. With the confirmation of rural collective assets and the promotion of the reform of joint-stock cooperative system, rural collective economy has become another important "new agricultural business entity", with a broader development space and a more important position and role in agriculture, rural areas and farmers.

2.3.3The new agricultural business entity has become an important part of agriculture and rural areas. In 2016, there were 2.8 million new agricultural business entities in China; there were 1.794 million farmers’ cooperatives, 877 000 family farms, 386 000 agricultural industrialization organizations, 129 000 leading enterprises and 12.7 million new professional farmers registered according to law[12]. New agricultural business entity has become an important new force leading agricultural modernization and an extremely important part of "agriculture, rural areas and farmers". Farmers’ cooperative organizations occupy an important position in the new agricultural business entities, and their number accounts for 64% of the new agricultural business entities. At present, these 2.8 million new agricultural entities manage 40% of China’s cultivated land, while the remaining 200 million farmers manage another 60% of cultivated land[13]. How the new agricultural business entities drive these more than 200 million farmers to develop modern agriculture, how to promote the transfer of more than 200 million farmers from agriculture towards orderly citizenization, and how to further transfer cultivated land are all urgent problems to be solved. The further development of new agricultural business entities is a long process intertwined with land circulation and agricultural population transfer and citizenization. In May 2017, the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council issued theOpinionsonAcceleratingtheConstructionofPolicySystemandCultivatingNewAgriculturalBusinessEntities, to support the development of new agricultural business entities from fiscal and tax policies, infrastructure construction, financial and credit services, insurance, talents and other aspects, and give full play to the leading role of new agricultural business entities to ordinary farmers[14]. At the same time, land rights confirmation has been basically promoted throughout the country. By the end of 2018, except Shanghai and Chongqing, land rights confirmation work in 30 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) has been basically completed[14]. With the strengthening of the supply of various systems and the deepening of land rights confirmation, the new agricultural business entities will further accelerate their development.

2.4 The new agricultural business entity is an adaptive and leading institutional innovationThe new agricultural business entity not only absorbs and inherits the classical small-scale peasant theory, but also develops and innovates with Chinese characteristics. On the basis of adhering to collective ownership of land and household contract responsibility system, it contains productive forces of different scales and levels, and accommodates the mixed development and common development of various ownership economies. It has extensive institutional flexibility and adaptability, and can better adapt to and promote the development of rural productive forces. This is an important embodiment of the basic economic system in the primary stage of socialism, another innovation of the socialist agricultural management system, and enriches the theory of agricultural modernization development. In terms of development ideas, we should not only adhere to the basic position of family management, but also develop moderate scale management; we should not only support the development of new agricultural business entities, but also put emphasis on ordinary farmers instead of blindly eliminating small farmers, and bring family management into the modern agricultural management system. For industrial and commercial capital to enter agriculture, we should reasonably guide and strengthen supervision, adhere to the "three red lines", and never allow capital to deprive farmers. New agricultural business entities do not ignore ordinary farmers and poor farmers; the new agricultural business entities bring family management into the modern agricultural system, and pay attention to the development of family farms and large professional households.

Leading is in terms of the development concept and practice of "green development, ecological development and sustainable development" of new agricultural business entities. At the end of 1970s, China introduced chemical agriculture and industrialized agriculture characterized by material input, such as chemical fertilizer, pesticide and film, which caused serious damage to agricultural ecosystem. In developed countries in Europe and America, the traditional agricultural development model also brings serious problems such as soil degradation, ecological environment pollution and food safety incident. With the increasing shortage of fossil energy such as oil, the global climate and environmental problems have become increasingly prominent, and there is deterioration of agricultural ecological environment, green and sustainable development have increasingly become a consensus. As Florian Freudenberg, the pioneer of American ecological agriculture, said, neither resources nor environment support modern large-scale industrialized agricultural production characterized by plunder, and human beings must take the road of sustainable ecological agriculture[15]. Under the guidance of the concept of "innovation, coordination, green, openness and sharing", the new agricultural business entities are the need to solve the problems of China’s agricultural development and explore new agricultural production methods, and embody the new agricultural civilization concept and ecological civilization concept, reflecting the concern for human well-being and long-term development. Its concept of green and sustainable development conforms to the world trend.

3 Influence of the development of new agricultural business entity on rural governance body

The rural governance body refers to the government and various stakeholders involved in the practice of rural governance and their system and structure[16]. Rural governance body can be classified from the perspectives of organizational structure, attributes and fields involved. From the perspective of system and organization, it can be divided into three categories: (i) basic subjects, villagers; (ii) institutional formal organizations, such as township party committees and governments, village committees and villagers’ congresses; (iii) non-institutional informal organizations, such as various economic organizations, social organizations and rural elites represented by new agricultural business entities. The specific classification is shown in Fig.1.

3.1 VillagersVillagers, the basic rural governance body, have changed, and the basic rural governance body has evolved from villagers to new professional farmers. The new-type professional farmers are different from the villagers under the traditional dual system, and their mobility is gradually enhanced and accelerated. Some villagers become citizens in cities, while the other part is transformed into new-type professional farmers (Fig.2). The process of villagers transforming into new professional farmers is accompanied by the development and growth of new agricultural business entities (Fig.3). New professional farmers will gradually replace villagers in the traditional sense and become the basic subject of new rural governance. New professional farmers are divided into production and operation-oriented farmers, professional and skilled farmers and social service-oriented farmers,etc.Production and operation-oriented farmers mainly include large professional households, family farmers and leaders of professional cooperatives. Professional and skilled farmers mainly include agricultural workers, agricultural employees,etc., and refer to the backbone agricultural labor force specializing in a certain aspect of production and business activities. Social service-oriented farmers mainly refer to agricultural socialized service personnel. Production and management-oriented farmers are the main force of new professional farmers, all-round and typical professional farmers, and indispensable backbone farmers in modern agriculture[17]. The main components of professional farmers include large professional households, family farmers, cooperative leaders,etc., which are important components of new agricultural business entities. All kinds of new agricultural business entities are composed of new professional farmers in terms of individual form. The process of villagers transforming and developing into new professional farmers is also the process of transforming traditional agriculture into modern agriculture and cultivating advanced agricultural productivity.

In the process of transforming villagers into new-type professional farmers, it is inevitable to go through the stage of long-term coexistence between traditional business entities and new-type business entities. Traditional business entities gradually decrease, while new-type agricultural business entities-new-type professional farmers gradually increase, and finally traditional business entities gradually disappear until all of them are transformed into new-type professional farmers. In the process of transformation, the number of traditional villagers is gradually reduced. In the process of transformation and after the final completion of transformation, the production and operation-oriented professional farmers are less than the professional and skilled farmers and production service-oriented farmers. Because of market competition, poor management and other reasons, some production and operation-oriented professional farmers have changed into professional and skilled and production service-oriented farmers; some professional and skilled and production service-oriented farmers have been transformed into large professional households and family farmers due to their own quality improvement and market opportunities. Only by creating a good external environment for this two-way transformation can the vitality of various elements and subjects be activated.

With the cultivation and transformation of new professional farmers, villagers gradually move from homogeneity to heterogeneity, and then there are economic diversification, class diversification and interest diversification. Those who have been transformed into production and operation-oriented farmers are the owners and managers of agricultural operation entities in the new agricultural business entities, having more economic, political and social resources, and playing an important role in rural governance. The vast majority of professional and skilled farmers and social service-oriented farmers are employed agricultural workers, with relatively weak economic income and strength and relatively low social status. With the transformation of villagers into new professional farmers, villagers who were generally homogeneous in economic strength and social stratum gradually differentiated in economy, class and interests, and their social relations became more diversified.

3.2 New agricultural business entity as the rural governance bodyFrom the perspective of governance, as the unity of productivity and production relations, the new agricultural business entities will inevitably participate in rural governance, especially in the stage with the theme of economic development and rural revitalization, and the governance role played by economic entities is still very important and prominent. Therefore, the new agricultural business entity itself has also changed. It is not only an important part of the rural economic foundation, but also an important role of rural governance and superstructure, thus becoming a unity of the rural economic foundation and superstructure, and showing diversified characteristics.

At the end of 2012, the Central Rural Economic Work Conference formally proposed cultivating new business entities. Guo Qinghai[1]divides the new agricultural business entities into three categories: family farms, farmers’ professional cooperatives and agricultural enterprises. Zhang Hongyu[18]believes that the new agricultural business entities mainly include: family business entities, including large professional households, family farms, and specialized production service households; cooperative business entities, including various farmers’ cooperatives and professional associations; enterprise operation entities. TheGreenPaperonRuralAreas(2016-2017) of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences divides new agricultural business entities into five types: self-managed family agriculture; farmers’ cooperatives; agricultural companies run by employees; new farmers; agricultural industrialization consortium. The new agricultural business entities based on household contract are not only increasingly diversified in types, but also increasingly diversified in management methods, capital composition and business scale.

First of all, there are family management, agricultural cooperative management, enterprise-oriented employee management, and organized management-agricultural industrialization consortium. Secondly, there are family management and cooperative management with collective economic components in capital composition, and there are also various forms of ownership, such as private capital, which are corporatized and enterprise-oriented. There are both collective economic components and private capital and other economic components, and various economic components have achieved joint development to varying degrees with the agricultural industrialization consortium as the link. Thirdly, family farms and large professional households have a certain scale of operation, cooperatives have a relatively large scale of operation, enterprises have a relatively larger scale of operation and a longer industrial chain, and agricultural industrialization consortia combine a variety of business entities with a larger scale of operation across industries and regions. Different business scale also accommodates different levels of productivity, showing the multi-level of business scale and productivity level. All these make the characteristics of new agricultural business entities increasingly diversified.

3.3 Informal organizationsFormal organization and informal organization are two important forces in rural governance. Formal organizations are mainly township party and government and village committees, while informal organizations include various economic organizations and social organizations. Formal organization is in the core leading position in rural governance, dominating the political, economic and social affairs in rural areas, and is in a monistic leading position in traditional rural governance. With the development of new agricultural business entities, their economic strength and social influence have increased, and they have gradually become the main force of rural economic development and an important growth pole of agricultural modernization. New socialized service organizations have gradually developed, becoming a very dynamic social organization form in rural areas, and together with various economic organizations, becoming an important governance body in rural governance. This diversified development process of rural governance body and the changes in the relationship between governance body caused by interaction also promote the transformation of rural governance structure from unitary leading to unitary leading and pluralistic participation. Rural collective economy is the support of rural grass-roots political power construction and party building, and the economic foundation of rural autonomy. After confirmation of rights and shareholding system reform, rural collective economy will further develop, and the political and economic influence of rural formal organizations will also be enhanced, thus forming a new governance structure with party organizations as the core.

3.4 Elements from outside the countryside are integrated into the rural governance bodyIn the process of agricultural and rural modernization, with the development of new agricultural business entities and the implementation of rural revitalization strategy, the links between urban and rural areas are getting closer and closer, and the mutual flow and integration of various elements between urban and rural areas are increasing. The urbanization of rural residents will also attract enterprise capital and company capital to invest in the development of agriculture, rural areas and farmers, and various resources will increase the flow and inclination to the countryside, including the flow of urban residents, capital, talents and management to agriculture and rural areas, farmers returning home to start businesses, urban residents going to the countryside to start businesses, and young students at home and abroad. These elements can be roughly classified into three categories: human capital, fund and management. The evolution of human capital is roughly similar to the evolution of villagers, and human capital will gradually evolve into a new type of professional farmers. Capital, operation and management will be integrated into economic organizations such as new agricultural business entities, which will promote rural construction and productivity improvement, as well as the integration and balanced development between urban and rural areas. The inflow of elements outside the countryside not only brings new concepts, technologies and organizational forms, but also inevitably blends into and changes the situation of rural governance body, and participates in the structural changes of rural governance.

4 New foundation of rural revitalization and governance

Rural revitalization includes the comprehensive contents of economy, politics, society, ecology, culture and so on. Industrial prosperity, ecological livability, rural civilization, effective governance and affluent life are the general requirements of rural revitalization strategy. It is the deepening and sublimation of the concept of agricultural and rural development. Rural revitalization strategy is a concept with rich connotation, including rural industrial revitalization, talent revitalization, cultural revitalization, ecological revitalization, organizational revitalization and so on. It covers economic, political, social, ecological and cultural revitalization.

Marxism believes that productive forces are the fundamental driving force of social development, productive forces determine production relations, the sum of production relations constitute the economic base, and the economic base determines the superstructure. Therefore, the essence of rural revitalization lies in the development of productive forces, and the improvement of production relations and the optimization of rural governance on this basis. The development of rural productive forces promoted by the development of new agricultural business entities, the evolution of rural production relations on this basis, and the resulting changes in the rural governance body and the optimization of governance structure, constitute a new foundation of rural revitalization and rural governance in the new era. This not only reflects the dialectical relationship between rural productive forces and production relations, economic base and superstructure, but also enriches and develops a new rural governance system with the combination of self-rule, rule of law and rule of virtue.