Rural vitalization promoted by industrial transformation under globalization: The case of Tengtou village in China

Globalization has deeply changed the rural socio-economic form and spatial pattern, and caused a comprehensive and profound transformation of rural industries. By establishing a theoretical analysis framework for industrial transformation, this paper firstly reveals the internal mechanism of industrial transformation to promote the diversified development and comprehensive vitalization of rural areas. Taking Tengtou, a developed coastal village in southeast China, as the study area, we try to analyze its developing stages and the process of industrial transformation since 1965, and provide implications for China's rural vitalization towards globalization. Driven by external forces of globalization, rural development elements interact with each other for restructuring and combine with the internal development needs of rural areas to jointly promote the transformation of rural industries, with a major transformation path of “factor flow-structure adjustment-function expansion”. The sound leadership of rural cadres and the growth of the collective economy are important catalysts for Tengtou's industrial transformation. The restructuring of village-owned enterprises has endowed Tengtou with the vitality for industries development, the ability to participate in global market competition, and the development resilience for overcoming obstacles. The great practice of industrial transformation in Tengtou has important enlightenment for China or even the developing world's rural vitalization: strengthening the building of village level party organization and the leadership of cadres; innovating the governance model of village level to develop the collective economy; promoting the integrated development of the industries to support the rural vitalization; and protecting the ecological environment to promote the rural harmonious development. Developing the global rural with Chinese characteristics is still in preliminary stage, the valuable Tengtou spirit of “plowing to the end, innovating never ends” deserves to be continuously carried forward to promote the rural industry development and comprehensive rural vitalization via innovation.