Asia Pacific Cooperative Development Platform: Member Stories
From Rice Fields to the Digital Marketplace: How China’s Oldest Cooperative Network is Rewriting the Rural Playbook
Asia Pacific Cooperative Development Platform (APCDP) is an initiative launched by ICA-AP under the ICA-EU Partnership Program to encourage collaboration and knowledge-sharing among international cooperative development organizations (CDOs).
Showcasing the development work carried out by APCDP members, we are featuring their stories in our monthly newsletters. This month, we feature the All China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives (ACFSMC) for its efforts to strengthen rural supply chains and improve market access across China through modern cooperative services and solutions.
Founded in 1954 to address persistent gaps in rural supply and market access, the All China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives (ACFSMC) has grown into one of the world’s most extensive cooperative systems, connecting millions of farmers with modern supply chains, services, and markets across China.
Its role has expanded steadily over the decades. What began as a network focused on the circulation of essential goods now reaches across modern logistics, e-commerce, and agricultural commercial services. With an annual sales volume of 1.5 trillion Yuan, ACFSMC continues to underpin rural development while ensuring a stable supply of goods for both rural and urban populations.
Credit: ACFSMC
As this system matured at home, ACFSMC also began engaging more actively beyond its borders. It now runs an annual training programme bringing around 30 cooperative practitioners from the Asia and Pacific region to China. It also facilitates international exchange through a Cooperative Pavilion at national-level expos, including the China International Import Expo, where cooperatives from around the world can showcase products and forge business connections.
Credit: ACFSMC
Among these initiatives, the training programme remains the most direct channel for knowledge exchange. It focuses on strengthening cooperative management and helping organisations navigate contemporary challenges, particularly around technology adoption and operational efficiency. Participants engage in lectures, field visits, and discussions with high-performing cooperatives, covering themes that include poverty alleviation, e-commerce integration, gender equality, and cooperative trade.
The approach is practical. Participants encounter working models that can be studied and adapted within their own contexts. Many return home and apply what they have learned, improving management practices and strengthening their cooperatives from the ground up. Feedback from participants has consistently been positive, with concrete, on-site examples cited as especially valuable.
The programme contributes to broader development outcomes as well: supporting poverty reduction (SDG 1), gender inclusion (SDG 5), and more equitable economic growth (SDG 8). In doing so, it reinforces the role cooperatives can play as adaptable, resilient institutions in a rapidly changing economic landscape.
Looking ahead, ACFSMC intends to sustain and deepen this international engagement, continuing the training programme and expanding opportunities for ICA member cooperatives to participate in China’s national-level expos.
Its trajectory reflects a consistent approach: building systems that respond to real needs and advancing cooperation through practical exchange and shared experience.
