township and village enterprises'

[keannu]

What does 'township' mean? The dictionary defines it as 'a lower unit under county', so I think it's a China-specific local unit. And is it describing 'enterprises' or an independent meaning from 'village enterprises'?

ex)In thie history of China, the economy first truly flourished in the unstable Zhou dynasty of the first millemium BC....The burst of economic activity in China after 1978 was driven by 'township and village enterprises', agencies of the government given local freedom to start companies

 

[SoothingDave]

A township is a subdivision of a county. It is by no means limited to China only. Normally counties are divided into townships. Cities are established as local government in more populous areas of townships.

I can't say for sure, but I think there are "township enterprises" and "village enterprises."

 

[virus99]

I know the term township from South Africa. There it is a part of a city (Cape Town for example) where the poor live. It's another word for slum. In the townships of Cape Town live millions of people (some of them have cars and are employed or have an own business).

Your sentence means, that enterprises out of townships and villages helped the economy in china at that time to grow and boom.

I am not a teacher! Only a thought from a fellow student

 

[virus99]

I need to ad that one has to be careful with the comparison of township and slum. My comparison only served to get you an imagination of what is meant...

 

[bhaisahab]

I need to add that one has to be careful with the comparison between township and slum. My comparison was only to help you imagine what is meant.

Bhai.

 

[riquecohen]

In your title you seem to have omitted the opening quotation mark, thereby leading this reader to think that the closing quotation mark was actually an apostrophe. This was clarified only by reading the text.