The General Office of the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and the General Office of the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) recently jointly issued the Circular on relevant issues concerning the project of “Ten Thousands of Villages and Thousands of Townships” in 2011, making work plans in order to promote a good beginning of the construction of rural market system during the 12th Five-Year Plan period.
According to the Circular, major tasks for the project of “Ten Thousands of Villages and Thousands of Townships” in 2011 are: 1. Priority in support is to establish commodity distribution centers in rural areas, increasing distribution rate. Mechanization and IT application shall be achieved in distribution centers to enhance efficiency and the coverage capability. 2. Give support to the establishment of rural shops under the “Ten Thousands of Villages and Thousands of Townships” project, increasing network coverage. Encourage newly established rural shops to develop a chain operation model, strengthen implementation of management responsibility system and daily operation management of the rural shops. 3. Transform and upgrade IT application of rural shops. Carry out pilot projects in 16 provinces, prefectures and municipalities including Beijing, and integrate resources of businesses, banks and network operators, focusing on transformation effect and establishment of long-term mechanism, and implementing IT application step by step, first on township shops, and followed by village shops, endeavoring to make the proportion of IT application for rural shops reach 15% up to the end of 2011.
It is emphasized in the Circular that the “Ten Thousands of Villages and Thousands of Townships” project should be implemented in accordance with the principles of openness, fairness and transparency, overcoming geographical constraints, and selecting competitive enterprises to participate in the project, and giving play the role of leading enterprises to promote the project. Perfect the rules and regulations for the project of “Ten Thousands of Villages and Thousands of Townships”, strengthen supervision on project management and funding, implement relative provincial support policies, and make efforts to establish, taking a long-term perspective, an efficient and reasonably arranged commodity circulation network in rural areas.
Source: Ministry of Commerce Website; http://english.mofcom.gov.cn/aarticle/newsrelease/significantnews/201104/20110407494617.html
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