Three key tasks in building the rural circulation service system
After the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Party, economic reform first emerged in rural areas, launching reform of the rural circulation system centered on the market-oriented reform of agricultural product circulation. After thirty years of reform practice, under the strong support of policies for supporting and benefiting agriculture, the broad masses of farmers have seen their incomes greatly increase, and their consumption levels have also grown in step with income, while the urban-rural gap has continued to narrow. The original rural commodity circulation system, in which supply and marketing cooperatives held sole sway, gradually disintegrated, and a rural circulation service system based on market regulation and under state macroeconomic control, with multiple forms and multiple channels, was initially established. Various types of individual circulation enterprises or individualshopsbecame the mainstream of rural commodity circulation.
However, due to constraints such as poor rural transportation, blocked information, a single commercial format, farmers' lack of purchasing power, a low degree of organization in entering the market, and the lack of modern, large-scale, organized circulation enterprises and circulation systems, the rural circulation service system as a whole showed characteristics such as "inconvenient, unsafe, and not cost-effective," a low degree of organization, small scale, incomplete facilities, and backward management methods. "Oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar in the village, daily necessities at the big market, large items in the county seat" became a true portrayal of the rural circulation service system. In the vast majority of areas, farmers' consumption was still mainly realized through primitive rural fairs and backward consignment shops and "mom-and-pop shops." In addition, oversight of food hygiene and safety in the vast rural areas was relatively weak, leading to problems in the rural circulation market such as poor product quality, low grades, and a flood of counterfeit and shoddy products, which greatly lowered farmers' living standards and disrupted the normal order of the rural circulation market. Therefore, building a standardized and orderly rural circulation service system became a top priority in the work of the Central Committee and the State Council, and in the 2008 No. 1 document of the Central Committee it was explicitly proposed to "strengthen the building of the rural market system. Establish and improve a large market and large circulation suited to the requirements of modern agricultural development." The Ministry of Commerce, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, and the All-China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives also jointly issued the "Opinions on Strengthening the Building of the Rural Market System" for this purpose.
Against this backdrop, in order to better serve the building of the rural circulation system, improve the rural circulation environment, and raise farmers' quality of life, the Fengcheng City Commercial Management Office actively responded to the needs of social and economic development, seized the trend, and boldly innovated. Taking the improvement of people's livelihood as its starting point, it took the lead within Jiangxi Province in launching the building and management of the rural circulation service system, earnestly doing well the three key tasks of management, operation, and service, and explored an effective path for building the rural circulation service system.
I. Do well the task of management to ensure the smooth development of the building of the rural circulation service system。
Building the rural circulation service system is not only a major issue related to promoting the comprehensive development of the rural economy and increasing farmers' incomes, but also an objective requirement for coordinating urban and rural development and improving the socialist market economy system.It can effectively promote agricultural development, create conditions for increasing farmers' incomes and raising their living standards, and can also extend the industrial chain and raise the level of agricultural industrialization.
As the connotation of the work has continued to expand, the role played by the commerce department in building the rural circulation service system has grown ever greater. Management of liquor circulation ensures citizens' drinking safety, and designated slaughter management ensures citizens can eat "reassuring meat." In particular, the "Ten Thousand Villages and Thousand Townships" market construction project and the rural commerce information service project have, to a certain extent, noticeably improved the rural circulation environment.
However, relying only on the commerce department's own strength cannot meet the requirements of this new work,and a strong organizational body must be established to exercise comprehensive and standardized management over it.For this purpose, FengchengCity Governmentspecially established the Municipal Leading Group for the Building of the Rural Circulation Service System, headed by the vice mayor in charge, andissued the notice on the "Implementation Opinions on Strengthening the Building and Management of the Rural Circulation Service System" [(2008）23No.], clarifying that the Municipal Commercial Management Office would serve as the competent department for the industry. Subsequently,the Municipal Organization Commission also issued the "Notice on Establishing Commercial Management Offices in Each Township (Subdistrict)" [(2008) No. 28], establishing commercial management offices in all 32 townships (subdistricts)of the city. The Party committees of each township (subdistrict) attached great importance to this work, placed it on their important agenda, and speciallyassigned a leader in charge, a director of the commercial management office, a commerce assistant, and other staff, established rules and regulations, and met the "eight have" requirements of "having a work institution, having a leader in charge, having staff, having an office site, having job responsibilities, having work records, having an information network, and having management ledgers." By the end of2008the year, the management system for the building of the rural circulation service system in Fengcheng City had been fully established.
At the same time, in order to better achieve controllability and effective management over the city's rural circulation sector and circulation industry, Fengcheng, on the basis of in-depth research in each township (subdistrict), boldly innovatedand establisheda urban-rural two-level joint management and coordinated work mechanism including a fixed-point work contact system, an information exchange system, a joint law enforcement system, and an emergency response system for major incidents, and adopted the method of "synchronizing management and service, separating basics from key points," with township commercial management offices responsible for routine basic work,while the Municipal Commercial Management Office dispatched staff from time to time to go deep into each township (subdistrict) for business guidance, continuously strengthened food safety oversight of pork products, liquor products, and other foods in the rural circulation market, and gradually formed an integrated urban-rural food safety oversight mechanism, ensuring the smooth development of all work in the rural circulation service system.
II. Do well the task of operation to create a safe consumption environment for rural areas.
First, advance the "Ten Thousand Villages and Thousand Townships" market construction projectto improve the rural consumption environment.
As a benefit-to-farmers project launched by the state, the core of "Ten Thousand Villages and Thousand Townships" market construction lies in improving farmers' shopping environment, eliminating counterfeit and shoddy goods from entering the rural market through unified distribution, and ensuring that farmers can consume with confidence and safety.
As one of the pilot counties and cities of Jiangxi Province's "Ten Thousand Villages and Thousand Townships" market project, Fengcheng has always aimed to improve the rural circulation network and establish distribution channels suited to the characteristics of rural market development. After four years of effort, it has now smoothly completed the construction and renovation plan for557"Jinqiao Convenience Stores" and the facility renovation of65franchise stores, and has basically formed a new rural circulation network covering the whole city100%of townships and60%of administrative villages, with Fengcheng Jinqiao Commerce and Trade Co., Ltd. as the leader, township "Jinqiao Convenience Stores" as the backbone, and village-level "farmers' stores" as the foundation; it has built the Jinqiao Distribution Center and successfully implemented the strategy of having designated brand suppliers join in commodity distribution,13with the active participation of62designated brand suppliers,420brand series and50product varieties participating in distribution to each franchise store, with a distribution radius of
km, effectively alleviating the contradiction of insufficient commodity distribution. At the same time, through regular and irregular supervision and inspection of in-store hygiene and training of store managers, the in-store hygiene and operating conditions of the farmers' stores in the "Ten Thousand Villages and Thousand Townships" market project were further improved, greatly transforming the appearance of traditional farmers' stores and building a safe, time-saving, and worry-free shopping environment for farmers. At present, after construction and renovation, the "Jinqiao Convenience Stores" spread throughout the countryside have become the main channel for expanding rural consumption.400Zhongyi Supermarket, one of the "Ten Thousand Villages and Thousand Townships" market projects in Rongtang Town, Fengcheng City, has60%sq m of in-store space, a reasonable layout, goods classified and displayed neatly, all goods clearly marked with prices, and prices the same as in the city; of the goods in the store,
percent are uniformly distributed by the Municipal Jinqiao Distribution Center. Because quality is guaranteed, prices are affordable, and reputation is good, farmers can buy safe, convenient, and affordable goods right at their doorstep, which to a certain extent has spurred farmers' enthusiasm for consumption.
Second, implement a unified management model and advance the standardized management of designated pig slaughtering.26Proceeding from local realities and the priority of cultivating leading enterprises, the Fengcheng City Commercial Management Office continuously strengthened communication and exchanges with the Sichuan Tieqilishi Group, food companies, and designated pig slaughterhouses in each township (subdistrict). From top to bottom, it adopted a unified management model and established in the urban designated slaughterhouse and in99%township (subdistrict) designated slaughterhouses systems such as a traceable meat quality system, pig entry acceptance, ledger management, recall of nonconforming meat, and harmless treatment of diseased meat, successfully achieving unified and standardized management of designated pig slaughtering enterprises throughout the city. The citywide designated slaughter rate reached as high as100%, and both the pass rate of factory meat inspection and the harmless treatment rate of diseased meat reached
, ensuring that urban and rural citizens can all eat reassuring meat.
Third, purify the rural liquor product circulation market and continuously advance the urban-rural integration process of liquor circulation management.2006Since1374, after three years of effort, liquor circulation management in Fengcheng City has been orderly, and a total of95%business households in the city have completed filing and registration for liquor products, with filing and registration rates in urban areas and townships reaching60%andrespectively. At the same time, in order tostrengthen industry collaboration and safeguard the lawful rights and interests of operators, the FengchengCity Commercial Management Office, assessing the situation,2008actively cooperated with the Municipal Federation of Industry and Commerce and on9year5month
day held the "Founding Conference of the Fengcheng City Liquor Circulation Industry Chamber of Commerce," formally establishing the "Fengcheng City Liquor Circulation Industry Chamber of Commerce." After its establishment, the chamber adopted direct distribution methods, providing each liquor dealer with a safe purchasing channel.2009On this basis,32in9, the Fengcheng City Commercial Management Office comprehensively carried out annual inspection of liquor circulation management filing in all403townships (subdistricts) of the city. By174month, the city had conducted annual inspections for
establishments and addednew filing registrations, giving a relatively comprehensive and timely grasp of relevant information on liquor product operators in both urban and rural areas of the city.
At the same time, in order to better purify the rural market and promote the urban-rural integration process of the city's liquor circulation market, the Fengcheng City Commercial Management Office, taking the opportunity of carrying out rural circulation system building work, changed the past inspection method that focused mainly on the urban market and expanded the scope of inspection to several larger townships near the urban area. During major holidays, it repeatedly went deep into townships to carry out special food safety inspections of liquor products, continuously increasing oversight and inspection of the rural liquor product circulation market,
ensuring the drinking safety of urban and rural citizens.
III. Do well the task of service to help farmers increase production and income and continuously improve their quality of life.2007First, build a network information release platform and expand circulation channels for agricultural and sideline products.7.2In order to help farmers solve the difficulties of buying and selling,8in2008, according to the deployment of the Provincial Domestic Trade Industry Management Office, Fengcheng took the lead in the province in launching the rural commerce information service project. When superior-level funds had not yet arrived, it raised10,000 yuan on its own and builtvillage-level information service points, equipping them with computers, printers, fax machines, and other equipment. Each information point also assigned a commerce assistant and an information officer responsible for collecting, organizing, and feeding back information on important agricultural and sideline products. In addition, the Fengcheng City Commercial Management Office strengthened its ties with the Ministry of Commerce, actively sought the Ministry of Commerce's support, and in
1、became
one of the 20 pilot counties and cities nationwide for the rural commerce information service project.32It cooperated with the Ministry of Commerce's New Rural Commerce Network to open the "Fengcheng Jinqiao Commerce and Trade Network," and used this modern network platform to continuously expand circulation channels for agricultural products, help farmers solve the difficulties of buying and selling, and promote increases in farmers' production and income.
2、It continuously changed farmers' understanding of the value of information.
Since the pilot activity was launched, Fengcheng has established a total of503rural commerce information points, each equipped with computers, printers, and other equipment as well as an information officer and a commerce assistant. With extremely high work enthusiasm, the information officers and commerce assistants worked hard to help farming households collect and publish information on the purchase and sale of distinctive agricultural and sideline products, continuously changing farmers' traditional concepts and enabling them to deeply understand the value of network information. Zou Leigen, a quail farmer in Sundu Subdistrict, previously believed his products were "the emperor's daughter who need not worry about getting married." When an information officer came to his door to persuade him to attend a matchmaking meeting, he did not take it seriously. Later, with a try-it-and-see attitude, he posted information offering quail eggs for sale, and the selling price was higher than locally. A single deal actually earned him more than two thousand yuan extra. Having tasted the sweetness, he praised "Fengcheng Jinqiao Commerce and Trade Network" to everyone he met.300Helping farmers improve their skills for becoming wealthy.3—5For a long time, farmers had relied on traditional techniques to carry out production activities. In order to help farmers learn new techniques and continuously improve their skills for becoming wealthy, Fengcheng strengthened communication with the Ministry of Commerce's New Rural Commerce Network and repeatedly invited engineers from the commerce network to Fengcheng to carry out skills training. According to statistics, since the pilot was launched, training has been organized for
3rural planting and breeding backbones (person-times). Lu Enquan, a major vegetable grower in Yuandu Town, planted
mu of cowpeas. After attending the training, he said with emotion: "It is the commerce network that transformed me from an ordinary farmer into a new-type farmer relying on knowledge, technology, and information. From the New Rural Commerce Network I learned a lot of cowpea planting techniques and sales information. I no longer worry that the cowpeas I produce cannot be sold, and the price is evenmao per jin higher than before. Farmers need this kind of information, and they also gain many practical benefits from it."1200Changing the traditional thinking on agricultural production and marketing and opening up a new marketing model.690The Fengcheng City Commercial Management Office continuously2008strengthened the building of the four-level network platform of the urban-rural market information service system, worked hard to change traditional thinking on agricultural production and marketing, and opened up a brand-new marketing model. Over more than a year of pilot operation, through the modern network platform "Fengcheng Jinqiao Commerce and Trade Network," it published various types of supply and demand information for farmers2.48more than2009items, set up free information release platforms19874.0, and also actively organized farmers, major growers, farmers' cooperatives, and others to participate in the online purchase and sale matchmaking meetings for agricultural and sideline products held by the Ministry of Commerce.
year cumulative transaction amount
1100 million yuan,
in the first half of
2the online purchase and sale matchmaking meeting transaction
10,000 yuan. Both the amount of information published and the online transaction volume ranked among the top nationwide pilot counties and cities, effectively promoting increases in farmers' production and income.30Second, strictly standardize the home appliances going to the countryside procedures to ensure farmers can buy home appliance products with confidence.151. Strictly control the filing and registration of sales outlets.6Sales outlets meeting the basic conditions for filing and registration were registered, and staff were dispatched to go deep into each township (subdistrict) to conduct on-site inspections of already filed and registered sales outlets. Outlets that engaged in fraud or falsely reported basic information were resolutely banned, so as to ensure that all registered home appliances going to the countryside sales outlets met the conditions.172. Strictly standardize the operating procedures of home appliances going to the countryside work.205Relying on township (subdistrict) commercial management offices, Fengcheng formed a work mechanism with Fengcheng characteristics featuring coordinated supervision by municipal and township two-level commercial management offices, strictly standardizing operating procedures from top to bottom. Since the launch of the home appliances going to the countryside work, not a single case of selling counterfeit or shoddy products or fraudulently obtaining subsidies has been found. At the same time, according to the relevant provisions of the "Implementation Rules for Home Appliances Going to the Countryside" jointly issued by the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Finance, and nine other ministries and commissions, the time for subsidies to be in place was promptly adjusted from the original9,168working days to the current18,885,388working days, greatly simplifying the review and payment procedures for home appliances going to the countryside subsidies, further strengthening the implementation of the subsidy policy, and effectively stimulating farmers' enthusiasm for purchasing home appliances. By
3month
4, ensure good after-sales service at sales outlets so that farmers can buy home appliances with confidence.
Because many rural areas are remote and the after-sales service system is incomplete, many farmers are very worried when buying home appliances that breakdowns cannot be repaired. To avoid the "absence" of after-sales service under the home appliances going to the countryside program, the Fengcheng City Commercial Management Office therefore specially strengthened supervision and management of sales enterprises, requiring them to provide farmers with pre-sale, in-sale and after-sale services such as door-to-door delivery, installation and debugging, usage guidance, and door-to-door repairs. For those that fail to meet the requirements or have problems, their sales outlet qualification will be revoked, thereby eliminating farmers' worries and enabling them to buy home appliances going to the countryside products with confidence, so that this people-benefiting policy is truly implemented. According to statistics, as of2009year9month30day, the whole city had sold30210 units (pieces) of home appliances going to the countryside products, with cumulative sales amounting to65，016，147 yuan.