It’s July 5 today, Cooperative Day. The theme set by the International Cooperative Association is "Cooperatives: Promoting Inclusive and Sustainable Solutions". Year 2025 is the Year of International Cooperative proclaimed by the United Nations, to highlight the important role of cooperatives in promoting sustainable development, eliminating poverty, and promoting inclusive economic growth, and to call on countries to integrate cooperatives into their national development strategies.
Supported by the older generation of revolutionaries Zhou Enlai and Soong Ching Ling, ICCIC is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1939 by international friends who assisted the War of Resistance in China such as Snow and Rewi Alley and so on. It aims to promote production self-help and social development by organizing industrial cooperatives, and support the front line of the Anti-Japanese War. Chairman Mao Zedong once wrote to Mr. He Minghua who was the chairman of the ICCIC, highly praising Rewi Alley and others for seeking international support for the liberated areas. Nowadays, China is committed to building a community with a shared future for mankind and breaking the new threat of international hegemony to world peace. In this context, the commemorative activities held by ICCIC are of special significance.
I have been engaged in agricultural and rural work all my life, and I have always paid attention to the cause of cooperatives, and participated in the drafting of farmers specialized cooperatives. Seeing present turbulent international situation, the difficulties in the development of sovereign countries, and the suffering of civilians in war-torn areas, I think that it is necessary for the whole world to reflect on and re-understand the practical significance of developing cooperatives.
I. Shared values in the context of global crisis
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory in World War II, after which national independence defeated colonial aggression and democracy defeated dictatorship, and under the framework of the UN Charter, all countries in the world entered a period of peaceful coexistence and independent development. The United States, as a model of freedom and democracy, took the lead in development. The growth of the European Union, the rise of the Asian Tigers, and the rise of the BRICS countries represented the trend of self-improvement of sovereign countries in the 20th century. However, with the rapid development of science and technology and the increasing prevalence of free trade, climate warming, environmental pollution, and the polarization between the rich and the poor are becoming more and more serious, which is contrary to our goals. In particular, since the beginning of the 21st century, international monopoly capital has stirred up trouble everywhere, the contradiction between hegemony and sovereignty has become increasingly intense, and proxy wars have occurred one after another. Monopoly hegemony is hindering the development and threatening the peace. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and the war between Israel and Iraq have escalated the struggle between hegemony and sovereignty. The military-industrial complex has fueled the flames and pushed the world to the brink of a third world war.
I can't help but wonder if the basic principles of cooperatives advocated by the International Cooperative Association are outdated. Are the common ideals proposed in the UN Charter still useful today? Should the 8 billion people in the world have the value of a common destiny? Who dominates the ups and downs of this world? Is it the people who call the shots, or the capital in charge? If the law of the jungle is allowed to spread, does it mean that humans are degraded into animals, then where will the world go?
II. An analysis of the principles of cooperatives and the values of building a community with a shared future
On the occasion of the commemoration of Cooperatives Day, we always think of the birth of cooperatives and the basic principles of cooperatives.
Cooperatives were born in the first industrial revolution, and are people-oriented organizations, the purpose of which is to let members take charge, operate independently, develop in an inclusive manner, resist exploitation, and achieve common prosperity. Companies are capital-oriented organizations, recognizing money rather than people, pursuing the maximization of capital profits for the purpose, and do not hesitate to compete viciously. The two kinds of organizations are different in functions and are twins in the market economy.
The birth of the cooperative was represented by the Rochdale Workers' Consumption Cooperative in England, initiated by 28 workers in 1844, who each contributed £2 to set up a consumption cooperative to resist the exploitation of food and daily necessities commercial companies. The cooperative's store, which serves the members of the cooperative, successfully solves the problem of counterfeit and shoddy goods and high prices, and brings benefits to the members. The surrounding workers envied the cooperative's store and volunteered to join the cooperative. The influence of this form of organization continues to expand and spread to countries around the world. The vitality of cooperatives comes from the basic principles of cooperatives, which have been continuously supplemented and improved to form seven contents confirmed by the International Cooperative Association in 1995: 1. Voluntary opening 2. Democratic decision-making (one person, one vote) 3. Economic participation (distribution of income according to the contribution of members) 4. Autonomy and independence 5. Education promotion 6. Inter-cooperative cooperation 7. Care for the community environment.
Over the past 180 years, the number of cooperatives around the world has grown to more than 3 million, becoming a huge force to promote the all-round development of the economy and society around the world. Its influence is not only in the size and quantity, but more importantly, in irreplaceable social function in the fields of increasing employment, protecting vulnerable groups, reducing polarization, promoting community civilization, protecting the environment, and giving full play to the role of women.
The basic principles of cooperatives are highly consistent with the concept of the purposes of the United Nations Charter. The purpose of the UN Charter is to maintain world peace and security, to commit to fairness and justice, and to safeguard democracy and freedom. It can be said that the principles of cooperatives are a micro-prototype of the UN Charter.
Let’s compare the principles of cooperatives with the values of a community with a shared future for mankind proposed by Chairman Xi Jinping at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015 which are “peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy, and freedom”. The principles of cooperatives are also highly consistent with the values of a community with a shared future for mankind.
It is no coincidence that the basic principles of cooperatives are consistent with the concept of the UN Charter and the values of a community with a shared future for mankind. It reflects the common requirements and general trends of the development of human society. Especially in the case of today's increasingly fragmented world pattern, we must understand the significance of the existence and development of cooperatives from a more general and longer-term perspective. Cooperatives solve the contradiction between capital and labor in practice. It avoids capital agglomeration and exclusion of democracy and freedom, realizes the inclusive integration of personal funds and labor among members, eliminates the exploitation of employees by monopoly capital, and realizes wealth co-creation, income sharing, and common prosperity of members. Among the members of the cooperative, the concept of developing together and getting rich together contains the values of breathing together and sharing a common destiny. We can confidently say that a cooperative is the epitome of a harmonious society, and a cooperative is the epitome of a community with a shared future. Developing cooperatives is to lay a solid micro foundation for a community with a shared future for mankind. The union of cooperatives and cooperatives is to expand the coverage of the micro-foundation of a community with a shared future for mankind.
III. Successful experiences and lessons learned from cooperatives
The development of cooperatives has gone through vicissitudes, gone through many detours, and accumulated a series of successful experiences.
According to my research and thinking, there are eight main experiences and lessons of the cooperative movement as follows:
First, the legislation on cooperatives is the embodiment of incorporating cooperatives into the national development strategy.
At present, 105 countries around the world have promulgated the Cooperative Law, which has included cooperatives into the national development strategy and promoted national prosperity through the development of cooperatives. The cooperative is not a natural person, let alone a private joint-stock company. It is a type of market entity that follows the Cooperative Law, serves all members in accordance with the basic principles of the cooperative, and is under the charge of the present cooperative members. The Company Law encourages capital agglomeration, emphasizing the protection of the rights and interests of all shareholders while strengthening the control and monopoly rights of major shareholders. In the Company Law, people are only the embodiment of capital, and without capital, people have no rights.
In the process of law enforcement, government departments must adjust cooperatives in accordance with the Cooperative Law and adjust companies according to the Company Law. Don’t arbitrarily matchmake, or handle things in a muddled way, nor do confuse one thing with another, or act in a way that defeats your purposes. Historically, there has been a tendency for private companies to disguise themselves as cooperatives, evade taxes, cover up monopolies, and intercept the state's support funds for cooperatives. As a result, the market order of the country has been disrupted, and a group of corrupt officials and illegal business owners have been nurtured. It is worth noting that since the beginning of the 21st century, the trend of financial capital monopoly has intensified, and international monopoly capital has accelerated its penetration into government decision-making bodies, intervened in legislation, and crowded out financing services within cooperatives.
Second, cooperatives must formulate the "Articles of Association of the Cooperative" by all the promoters in accordance with the National Cooperative Law. The Articles of Association must clearly stipulate the identification of the membership, the obligations and rights of members, the establishment and authority of the organization, the appointment and dismissal and responsibilities of clerks, the financial system and income distribution, liquidation and cancellation. Other non-cooperative members are not allowed to usurp the position and overstep their authority. The legal system of cooperatives in Germany and Japan is sound, the Articles of Association of cooperatives are relatively clear and specific, the development of cooperatives is relatively common, and the basic principles of cooperatives have become the basic common sense for people. Cooperatives in these countries play a stronger role in inclusive development.
Third, the service objects of cooperatives are mainly members of the cooperative. The service content, service methods, and settlement methods of cooperatives are all determined by democratic discussion among cooperative members. Employees of cooperatives are the executors of services, not the owners of cooperatives, and are not allowed to change the decisions of cooperatives without authorization, and have no right to dispose cooperative assets without authorization. In cooperatives with extensive service contents, frequent activities and relatively large service scale, a wholly-owned service entity of the cooperative can be established, and the service entity operates independently, and the person in charge of the service entity is appointed and dismissed by the cooperative council and is responsible for the cooperative.
Fourth, the members of cooperatives and cooperatives each own their own properties. The services provided to members of cooperatives can be distributed to members at the end of each year in accordance with laws and regulations with the help of commercial settlement, after deducting the service costs. The resolution of the general meeting of members may approve the construction of service projects, continuously improve service capacity and service efficiency, and improve the market competitiveness of cooperatives. The financial management of cooperatives includes the financial transactions between cooperatives and external units, as well as the financial transactions between cooperatives and their members. The financing service for members can be regarded as the internal financing business of member banks, cooperatives and cooperative associations, which is the financial guarantee to support cooperatives to expand their service strength and enhance their market competitiveness. The agriculture and forestry treasury of Japanese cooperatives covers the whole country, which protects the financing rights of members and avoids the exploitation of members by external monopoly capital.
Fifth, the market competitiveness of cooperatives comes from professional and scaled services.
The services provided by cooperatives to their members are multifaceted, including production, consumption, physical and ideological and cultural aspects. The professional scale and systematic scale services within the cooperative can absorb and use modern scientific and technological means to improve efficiency, improve the overall market competitiveness of members, and avoid members being marginalized by the market.
Sixth, the government's financial support for cooperatives is a GSP, and it cannot be the icing on the cake.
Cooperative members enter the market in groups, most of which are disadvantaged groups and are the objects of national poverty alleviation and relief. The state’s support on cooperatives is equivalent to group poverty alleviation. If a cooperative has improved its service capacity and service efficiency, it is equivalent to a group of vulnerable groups being lifted out of poverty. The use of government financial funds requires pilot to get work experience and then popularize. The state financial support funds cannot be engaged in grasping the big and letting go of the small, catering to big clients, looking down the poor and loving the rich, let alone greedy for fame and personal achievements.
Seventh, most of the cooperatives that have taken a detour in history are caused by the intervention of external forces. Japanese militarism once forced cooperatives to serve in the war of aggression against China and dragged cooperatives into the quagmire of the war of aggression. At one time, China practiced a system of "integration of government and cooperatives", which limited the enthusiasm of cooperative members and the initiative of cooperative groups. A more common lesson is that private capital manipulates cooperatives. They practice private capital in the name of cooperatives, create a monopoly within cooperatives, privatize the services of cooperatives, and marginalize members.
Eighth, engaging in "one team and two signboards" is a betrayal of the basic principles of cooperatives and a desecration of the Cooperative Law.
In many places, one village one product, and the production was prosperous. After the establishment of cooperatives, they cannot carry out service activities due to a lack of talents and funds. As a result, companies merged cooperatives, or hung signboards of the company outside the cooperative, or established cooperatives initiated by the company, and hung signboards of the cooperative outside the company. Two signboards are to deal with external inspections, and one team is to operate by private individuals or joint stock companies for profit. The articles of association and the membership roster are just decorations. Due to disrupting the order of the local market, this practice was mostly not accepted by the members and was banned by the local government after a short time.
