Table Of ContentTOWNSHIP GOVERNANCE
AND INSTITUTIONALIZATION
IN CHINA
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Series on Contemporary China
(ISSN: 1793-0847)
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edited by Ka Ho Mok & Yeun-Wen Ku
Vol. 24 China’s Reform in Global Perspective
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Vol. 25 The Transition Study of Postsocialist China: An Ethnographic Study of a
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by Wing-Chung Ho
Vol. 26 Looking North, Looking South: China, Taiwan, and the South Pacific
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Vol. 27 China’s Industrial Development in the 21st Century
edited by Mu Yang & Hong Yu
Vol. 28 Cross-Taiwan Straits Relations Since 1979: Policy Adjustment and
Institutional Change Across the Straits
edited by Kevin G. Cai
Vol. 29 The Transformation of Political Communication in China: From Propaganda
to Hegemony
by Xiaoling Zhang
Vol. 30 The Great Urbanization of China
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Vol. 31 Social Structure of Contemporary China
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Vol. 32 EastAsia: Developments and Challenges
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Vol. 33 China and East Asia: After the Wall Street Crisis
edited by Peng Er Lam, Yaqing Qin & Mu Yang
Vol. 34 The World Turned Upside Down:
The Complex Partnership between China and Latin America
by Alfredo Toro Hardy
Vol. 35 Township Governance and Institutionalization in China
by Shukai Zhao
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Series on Contemporary China – Vol. 35
TOWNSHIP GOVERNANCE
AND INSTITUTIONALIZATION
IN CHINA
Zhao Shukai
Development Research Center of the State Council, China
World Scientific
NEW JERSEY • LONDON • SINGAPORE • BEIJING • SHANGHAI • HONG KONG • TAIPEI • CHENNAI
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Published by
World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
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USA office: 27 Warren Street, Suite 401-402, Hackensack, NJ 07601
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Zhao, Shukai.
Township governance and institutionalization in China / Shukai Zhao.
pages cm. -- (Series on contemporary China ; volume 35)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-9814405911 (hc)
1. Municipal government--China. 2. Political participation--China.
3. Local government--China. 4. Cities and towns--China. 5. China--Politics and government.
I. Title.
JS7357.A15Z433 2013
320.8'50951--dc23
2013028390
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Copyright © 2014 by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by any means,
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Contents
Introduction 1
Chapter 1 Progress of Township Governance Studies 20
Chapter 2 Organizational and Personnel Structure 84
Chapter 3 Fiscal Standing and Debt Crisis 116
Chapter 4 Power and Accountability 148
Chapter 5 Control Systems 177
Chapter 6 Public Services of Township Governments 208
Chapter 7 Township Government in Prospect 239
Chapter 8 Government Functions and Alienation
of Institutions 263
Chapter 9 Institutionalization of Governments
and Reforms 295
Bibliography 322
Postscript 333
Appendix I: Interview Outline of Town Leaders 336
Appendix II: Interview Outline of the Village Leaders 352
Index 371
v
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b1513 Township Governance and Institutionalization in China b1513_Introduction 12 Aug 2013 7:01 PM [Monday]
Introduction
This book is an empirical study of the grassroots government and
governance in contemporary China. The author focuses on the town-
ship level among the three levels such as county, township and village,
and the first 5 years of 21st century. The Chinese government abol-
ished the agricultural tax in 2005 which tremendously influenced the
daily activities and works of grassroots government. However, the
author argues that the institutional environment and the behavior of
grassroots government have not changed. Therefore, in the coming
decades, this book and its arguments are of great importance for the
Chinese government and its reform.
1. Background and Questions
The township government, below the county level, is the lowest level
of administrative apparatus of the state on the countryside. There are
two reasons that the author picks township government as the
research objective. On the one hand, the vast rural China is divided
into numerous units of township as the indispensable entity to explore
and study the issues of rural area. When the township government
deals with the rural issues, its role is as a stakeholder rather than an
outsider. Sometimes, the township government acts as a manager to
respond and solve problems, but sometimes it is the problem. On the
1
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b1513 Township Governance and Institutionalization in China b1513_Introduction 12 Aug 2013 7:01 PM [Monday]
2 Township Governance and Institutionalization in China
other hand, as the lowest administrative level of the state, the town-
ship government directly interacts with the society, and provides pub-
lic services. It is clear that the township government adds a very
crucial dimension in understanding and observing the state and soci-
ety relationships in contemporary China. As an important part of
political regime, the township government is not only the extension
and miniature of Chinese government and political institution, but
also represents the dynamics of rural development in China and the
transforming state and society relationships. That is, the township
government is too important to neglect when studying Chinese gov-
ernment and politics.
This book studies the township government because of its unique
position among the Chinese society, politics, and rural development.
1.1. Township government and “sannong issues”
In the mid and late 1990s, unprecedented severe issues had occurred
in rural China, and the officers of g rassroots attributed these issues
into three categories: “poverty of village, hardship of peasants’ life,
and danger of agriculture” (Li, 2002). Meanwhile, the growth of
agricultural production and rural economy was slow, peasants’ income
Governmental Institution
Central–Local Relationship
Township Government
Relationship between Upper
and Lower Levels
Embeddedness Peasants
Interaction Rural Areas
State–Society Agriculture
Relationship
Three Rural Issues
Figure 1: Township Government Interconnected with all Issues.
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b1513 Township Governance and Institutionalization in China b1513_Introduction 12 Aug 2013 7:01 PM [Monday]
Introduction 3
was unable to increase, and the social development of villages was
completely stagnant. The problems of education, culture, public
health, and social security were severe, which reflected in the shortage
of public services at the g rassroots. Consequently, the peasants’ politi-
cal trust in the grassroots government decreased, and conflicts
between the peasants and grassroots government also grew to unprec-
edented levels. Though the central government acknowledged the
top priority of agricultural and rural governance, in realty, propaganda
rather than effective works were conducted. Especially in the late
1990s, the government was not only unable to solve the heavy finan-
cial burden of the peasants and change the local harsh policies, but
also discriminated the peasants in many policies and oppressed the
immigration of the peasants. All these actions made the peasants’ life
very tough. These phenomena drew the attention of domestic and
international observers who started to study the issue of “governing
crises” in China (Pei, 2002; Shirk, 2007).
After the Party’s 16th National Congress in 2002, the central
government adopted the solution of “sannong issues” as its priority.
Its policy orientation was “to give but not to prey”, and the principle
was “industry supports agriculture and city reciprocation to vil-
lages”. On the one hand, the government adopted several schemes
to develop the agricultural production, medical improvement, and
villagers’ education. On the other hand, abolition of agricultural
taxes and subsidizing grain production increased the peasants’
income. It is clear that these policies have not only promoted the
economic development of villages, but also boosted the coordinated
development between economy and society. Moreover, the govern-
ment also highlighted the protection of peasants’ rights such as
abolishment of “custody- and-repatriation regulation” which seri-
ously retarded the mobility of peasants to the city, relaxed the policy
of limitation and discrimination on the migrant workers, and
adopted strict rules to prevent land acquisition that infringed peas-
ants’ rights. By such innovations, the rural economy was restored,
and effectively resolved or removed some conflicts and potential
crises on the countryside.
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