Currently, there are three methods for determining membership in rural collective economic organizations:
Self-determination by the collective economic organization, in accordance with Article 15 of the “Regulations on the Management of Rural Collective Economic Organizations in Guangdong Province”:
Since the implementation of the dual-tier management system based on household contract management, citizens who have moved their household registration into or out of the location of the collective economic organization shall have their membership determined by the organization’s charter, reviewed by the community committee or council, and voted on by the general assembly of members. If laws, regulations, rules, or the people’s government at or above the county level have other provisions, those provisions shall apply.
Determination by the village committee (residents’ committee), in accordance with Article 8 of the “Organic Law of Villagers’ Committees”:
Villagers’ committees shall, in accordance with the law, manage the land and other property collectively owned by the village farmers, guide villagers in the rational use of natural resources, and protect and improve the ecological environment. Villagers’ committees shall respect and support the autonomy of collective economic organizations to independently conduct economic activities in accordance with the law, maintain the dual-tier management system based on household contract management, and protect the legal property rights and other legitimate rights and interests of collective economic organizations, villagers, contract households, joint households, or partnerships.
Determination by the grassroots people’s government, in accordance with the following provisions:
“Notice of the General Office of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the Guangdong Provincial People’s Government on Forwarding the ‘Opinions of the Provincial Rural Work Office, Provincial Women’s Federation, and Provincial Bureau of Letters and Calls on Effectively Protecting the Land Contract and Collective Income Distribution Rights of Rural Women’” (Yue Wei Ban [2006] No. 142): Disputes arising shall be promptly handled in accordance with relevant laws, regulations, and policies; if dissatisfied with the decision of the grassroots government, an administrative reconsideration may be requested; if dissatisfied with the result of the administrative reconsideration or if the government fails to handle the matter, a lawsuit may be filed, and the court shall accept the case in accordance with the law.
Article 4 of the “Regulations on the Management of Rural Collective Economic Organizations in Guangdong Province”: Rural collective economic organizations, under the leadership of the township (town) and village organizations of the Communist Party of China, shall enjoy the autonomy to independently conduct economic activities in accordance with the law and shall be subject to the supervision of the people’s governments at all levels and villagers’ committees. Rural collective economic organizations shall practice democratic management, elect and remove managers in accordance with the law, and decide on major matters of operation and management.
Article 61 of the “Organic Law of Local People’s Congresses and Local People’s Governments”: The people’s governments of townships, ethnic townships, and towns shall exercise the following functions and powers: (3) Protect the property owned by the socialist state and the collective property owned by the working masses, protect the legal private property of citizens, maintain social order, and safeguard citizens’ personal rights, democratic rights, and other rights; (6) Protect the rights of women as granted by the Constitution and laws, including equality between men and women, equal pay for equal work, and freedom of marriage.
From the above three practices, it can be seen that the laws, regulations, and policies cited do not explicitly specify the subject responsible for determining “membership in rural collective economic organizations.” However, all three practices have a certain degree of rationality and legality in reality.
The current procedures for determining membership in rural collective economic organizations in the districts under Foshan City are as follows:
The applicant submits an application to the town or sub-district, which verifies the applicant’s situation and issues an administrative decision. The rural collective economic organization is directly ordered to confirm the applicant’s membership. If the organization fails to confirm within the specified period, the applicant automatically gains membership and enjoys the same treatment as other members.
If the collective economic organization refuses to comply with the administrative decision, the applicant may apply to the court for non-litigation enforcement with the administrative decision.
If either the collective economic organization or the applicant is dissatisfied with the administrative decision, they may apply for administrative reconsideration to the district government. If dissatisfied with the reconsideration decision, they may file an administrative lawsuit with the court.
The key to the effectiveness of Foshan City’s approach lies in the well-established communication channels between the government and the courts, which have unified the procedures for handling such issues:
The district court no longer accepts civil lawsuits filed by married-out women directly against village collectives to protect their rights. Instead, married-out women are required to file complaints with the town (sub-district). If the town (sub-district) fails to mediate successfully, the married-out women may sue the town government (sub-district office) for administrative inaction with a written letter from the town government (sub-district office) indicating unsuccessful mediation. The district court generally issues a judgment requiring the town government (sub-district office) to perform its administrative duties.
However, the specific situations vary across regions, and not all areas can follow Foshan City’s approach. Even within Foshan City, not all districts can fully implement this procedure. The root cause lies in the inconsistencies in the relevant laws, regulations, rules, and policies regarding collective economic organizations.
The most challenging part of determining membership in rural collective economic organizations is that existing members strictly limit membership conditions to protect their vested interests. This strict limitation on membership violates the basic legal principles of gender equality and directly contravenes current laws and regulations. Given the practical realities of grassroots work, when rural collective economic organizations deny the qualifications and rights granted by law to relevant citizens, the three methods proposed at the beginning of the article can be used as appropriate based on local conditions. To fundamentally resolve this issue, there are two approaches:
Respect the litigation rights of the parties. According to Article 63, Paragraph 2 of the “Property Law”: “If a decision made by a collective economic organization, villagers’ committee, or its responsible person infringes upon the legitimate rights and interests of collective members, the infringed collective members may request the people’s court to revoke the decision.” When a party files a civil lawsuit against a rural collective economic organization, the court should accept the case.
Introduce new laws and regulations that directly authorize grassroots governments or village/residents’ committees to handle such issues. This would give grassroots governments more legitimacy in handling such matters, and the handling of similar issues across different regions would not lead to vastly different outcomes, thereby avoiding a decline in government credibility.