“Collective Property Rights System Reform” Policy in Inner Mongolia’s Pastoral Areas of China: A Case Study of the Collective Stock Economic Cooperative in Xilingol League

Abstract Since China’s implementation of the reform and opening-up policy in 1978, Inner Mongolia’s pastoral areas have faced challenges such as population outflow, aging, and the emptying of villages. To address these issues, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region government promoted the “Collective Property Rights System Reform” policy in 2014 to develop collective stock economic cooperatives to enhance the competitiveness of pastoral areas. This study uses Xilingol League as a case study and conducts field surveys and interviews to analyze the implementation and process of this policy. Specifically, it focuses on the operation of collective stock economic cooperatives. This study covers the background of the reform and the implementation status in Xilingol League. It examines the three stages of “asset liquidation,” “member recognition,” and “asset share quantification” using the A-gacha (“gacha” means “village” in Inner Mongolia) in Xilingol League cooperative as a case study. Finally, this study summarizes the findings and provides prospects for developing cooperatives in pastoral areas.