Farming cooperatives to enjoy legal status   (Xinhua)  Updated: 2006-06-24 15:16  Cooperatives founded by farmers will soon enjoy 
legal status as Chinese legislators gathered here Saturday to discuss a draft 
law to better protect farmers' business interests. 
"How to help rural household better combat natural and market risks in 
business operation and connect small and sporadic household businesses with 
domestic and international markets are major issues in facilitating agricultural 
and rural economic development," said Li Chunting, member of the National 
People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee. 
 The draft law on farmers' professional cooperatives was presented to the 
legislators for the first deliberation, as household business, major backbone of 
China's rural economy, has become ever vulnerable when facing more and more 
competitive market. 
 Currently, China has no law or administrative regulations defining the legal 
status of rural cooperatives, which in turn fail to obtain government 
registration to guarantee their daily operation 
  
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