Devotion vs. Profit: A Study on the Logic and Approaches of Social Enterprises’ Participation in Rural Revitalization in Northwest China from the Perspective of New Quality Productivity

Abstract

As hybrid organizations that combine market-related logic with social logic, social enterprises (SEs) play a crucial role in addressing the challenges faced by people in employment while creating economic benefits through innovative solutions to drive economic and social rural revitalization. Focusing on social enterprises, this study employs environmental analysis and theoretical reasoning to examine the logic and approaches through which social enterprises participate in rural revitalization in China’s northwest regions from the perspective of “new-quality productive forces.” Research findings indicate that in the face of an external environment characterized by weakened investment and consumption and the decline of the demographic dividend, and an internal environment marked by lagging socio-economic development and ecological fragility, SEs should integrate devotion and profit logic based on a mixed action logic of multi-value co-creation. Through approaches such as cultivating new quality talent, constructing a new quality industrial system, shaping a new quality rural environment, promoting synergistic innovation between science and technology and culture, and actively participating in the revitalization of rural areas in China’s northwest region, SEs can play an active role in China’s rural revitalization efforts.

1. Introduction

The implementation of agricultural and rural modernization represents a strategic initiative launched by Chinese government to address the imbalance between its urban and rural development and to establish an integrated development paradigm for the new era [1]. The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China emphasized that high-quality agriculture is an essential requirement for national development and called for building a strong agricultural nation by accelerating progress in the revitalization of rural industries, talents, culture, ecology, and organization. Rural areas are the basis of building a modernized socialist country, while simultaneously necessitating the navigation of multifaceted challenges in realizing this strategic objective [2]. Rural revitalization faces the “rural development trilemma” of spatial policy, technological development, and production activities [3]. Rural revitalization is fundamentally grounded in the concepts of new and high-quality development. Common prosperity is the fundamental driving force of rural revitalization and the foundation for achieving sustainable economic development [4]. Notably, The Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee further proposed the mechanisms for developing “new quality productive forces” based on local conditions. Accelerating the development of such productive forces becomes the driving engine of China’s high-quality economic development, and it is a crucial measure of regional growth and coordinated urban–rural development.

Geographically, Northwest China has become the focus of many key national strategies, including the “Great Western Development” initiative, the “Silk Road Economic Belt”, and the “Yellow River Economic Belt”. This reflects its unique characteristics of abundant resources, arid or semi-arid climate, large deserts, and fragile ecosystems. It has also undergone relatively slow economic and social development and exhibits stark urban–rural disparities. The complex natural conditions, resource endowments, and development foundations of China’s northwest region determine the importance and necessity of exploring the role of social enterprises in rural revitalization from the perspective of new quality productive forces. Social enterprises occupy the intersection of “Government–Market–Society” [5], driven by multiple action logics spanning economic, social, and political dimensions [6]. They attract diverse stakeholders to participate, seek solutions to complex challenges, and have created significant economic and social value in employment promotion, community development, poverty alleviation, and ecological conservation [7].

Based on this, this paper focuses on the logics and approaches of social enterprise’s participation in rural revitalization in China’s northwest region, employing methods such as environmental analysis and theoretical deduction. It attempts to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the strategic environment for social enterprises’ participation in rural revitalization from the perspective of new quality productive forces. Based on a theoretical exposition of profit-seeking and altruistic logics, this study integrates the mixed action logic of multi-value co-creation in social enterprises’ participation in rural revitalization in Northwest China. Based on the logic of multi-value co-creation, it explores specific strategies for social enterprises to actively participate in rural revitalization in Northwest China through approaches such as cultivating new quality talents, constructing a new quality industrial system, shaping a new quality rural environment, promoting science and technology–culture synergy innovation, and strengthening enterprise operations. This study provides theoretical insights and policy implications for the action logic and practical approaches of social enterprises’ participation in rural revitalization in Northwest China.

2. Research Questions and Methods

2.1. Research Questions

2.1.1. A Study on Rural Revitalization in Northwest China from the Perspective of “New Quality Productive Forces”

Concept and Characteristics of “New Quality Productive Forces”

With the advent of a new generation of technological and industrial revolutions, the concept of productivity is also shifting from the traditional production model dominated by capital and labor to a new production model driven by scientific and technological innovation [8]. The concept of new quality productive forces was recently proposed, and it is tailored to the current characteristics of China. It involves the use of new technologies, developing new industries, opening new economic fields, building new developmental models, and reshaping new drivers of growth [9]. New quality productive forces are a modern form of productive forces driven by factors such as informatization, digitization, and new technologies [10]. Since their introduction, Chinese researchers have explored them from various perspectives. From a theoretical perspective, new quality productive forces refer to productivity generated by scientific and technological innovation, leading to breakthroughs in key disruptive technologies [11,12]. Their essence lies in a state of productivity that is characterized by “computing power” [13]. From a developmental perspective, new quality productive forces embody new concepts of development and are driven by technological innovation, focusing on industrial advancement that represents a conceptual leap forward [14]. Sheng identified the features of “new quality productive forces”, including environmental friendliness, novelty, optimal resource allocation, and high technological contents [15]. Sun noted that these forces demonstrate disruptive innovation, integration, and efficiency, signifying a qualitative transformation in productivity [16]. Wang et al. claimed that “new quality productive forces” exhibit a significant regional imbalance, spatial and temporal convergence, and significant agglomeration effects [17]. This study defines new quality productivity as “a productivity enhancement framework driven by technological innovation, hybrid organizational logic, and multi-stakeholder value co-creation to meet regional development needs.”

Rural Revitalization from the Perspective of “New Quality Productive Forces”

“New quality productive forces” energize rural revitalization through technological innovation, digital transformation, sustainable development, and smart governance [18]. Gong (2024) claimed that “new quality productive forces” propel agricultural production into an “Agriculture 4.0” era supported by the Internet of Things (IoT), big data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence, and will foster the sustainable development of rural industries [19]. Wang et al. (2024) proposed that “new quality productive forces” drive the modern transformation and upgrade rural industries through scientific and technological innovation, and they provide an inevitable choice for achieving a strong agricultural industry and a beautiful countryside, as well as cultivating prosperous farmers [20]. Hou et al. (2024) believe that the key to “new quality productive forces” is digital innovation, which energizes rural revitalization by improving digital infrastructure, optimizing the environment for investment, improving the structure of talent, and clarifying property rights [21]. Luo et al. (2024) claimed that “new quality productive forces” energize comprehensive rural revitalization through improvements in training for new types of farmers; the construction of digital, integrated, and intelligent new quality industrial chains; promotion of intelligent interconnections among rural governance platforms; and construction of a green and harmonious rural ecology [22]. Song et al. (2024) argued that “new quality productive forces” exhibit prominent heterogeneity in the context of rural revitalization and have a stronger positive impact in western regions of China, and that provincial productive forces have a siphoning effect on rural revitalization in the neighboring areas [23].

In summary, the research on rural revitalization from the perspective of “new quality productive forces” takes into account rural industries, technologies, talents, and ecosystems. However, few studies specifically addressed Northwest China in this context.

2.1.2. A Study on the Logic and Approaches for Social Enterprises to Participate in Rural Revitalization in Northwest China

Social enterprises play an important role in addressing various complex and wide-ranging social development issues and supporting sustainable development [24]. They contribute much to rural revitalization by creating employment opportunities, providing social services, and promoting community development [25].

Definition and Characteristics of Social Enterprises

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) defines a social enterprise as a hybrid organization that has both economic and social attributes and obtains profits through commercial means to ensure the realization of social goals [26]. Pache et al. argue that social enterprises use market-based approaches to address social issues, representing a hybrid organizational form that combines market logic with public welfare logic [27]. Kulshrestha et al. proposed the concept of a “sustainable social enterprise,” defining it as an organization that derives maximum benefit from cross-sector collaboration, active participation in building strong social networks, and establishing social capital to achieve social change [28]. Advances in digital technologies have facilitated cross-sector collaboration, while blurred organizational boundaries have given rise to new hybrid organizations, such as China’s rural economic cooperatives, the benefit corporations in the U.S., the U.K.’s community interest companies, France’s cooperative societies of collective interest, and Belgian social purpose companies. These organizations often exhibit the characteristics of social enterprises [29]. Social enterprises attempt to solve problems from the bottom up by guiding and expressing citizens’ value preferences, communicating solutions that meet the needs of beneficiary groups to government departments, and assisting the government in formulating innovative policies [30]. Compared with other organizations, social enterprises are more innovative and responsive, and they play an important role in public service areas such as healthcare, employment for people with disabilities, and post-disaster reconstruction [31].

In this study, we defined social enterprises as cross-sector collaborative organizations that take solving social and environmental problems as their core mission and realize financial sustainability through market-based operation. In addition, they should employ the power of business to create positive social change and pursue social, economic, and environmental values, among which environmental sustainability improvement should be much considered in this process.

Action Logics of Social Enterprises for Rural Revitalization

Imanuella, Idris, and Kamaruddin have found that social enterprise entrepreneurship is strongly associated with rural development [32]. Musinguzi, Larder, and Baker believe that social enterprises are an important strategic option for rural community revitalization [33]. Liu et al. have claimed that social enterprises serve as a vital pathway for implementing China’s third-wave income distribution mechanism [34], while Haugh et al. have suggested that hybrid organizations enhance market inclusivity by assisting disadvantaged groups [35]. Santos claimed that social enterprises can offer sustainable solutions to social problems [36], while Liu et al. (2016) argued that combining the hybrid logics of philanthropic aid and market development can enable social enterprises to participate in rural revitalization while assuming multiple identities. This can solve job shortages in rural areas and inspire the endogenous driving force for rural self-development [37]. Deng et al. claimed that through integrating market-related, administrative, and public welfare logics, social enterprises can solve the problem of sustainable participation by traditional organizations in rural industrial development through adjustments in their organizational goals, institutional resource integration, and optimization of the model of governance [38]. With the implementation of the rural revitalization strategy, the integration of urban and rural areas, rural transport, financial support, network information technology, and other infrastructures have been improved significantly [39].

Practical Approaches of the Social Enterprises Participating in Rural Revitalization

Social enterprises make full use of market-related and administrative mechanisms to start businesses by seizing rural entrepreneurial opportunities, acquiring local resources, and driving social reforms. This triggers comprehensive rural development and motivates endogenous driving forces for it [40]. Social agriculture plays an important role in achieving sustainable development and rural development [41]. Olmedo et al.’s research findings from Ireland and Finland indicate that social enterprises have been recognized as key participants with the potential to drive new endogenous rural development, playing roles such as market facilitators and supporters, channels for resource redistribution, and coordinators of local reciprocal relationships [42]. Martens et al.’s research findings from rural areas in Germany indicate that community cooperatives, as a type of social enterprise, have been increasingly emerging in rural areas in Germany over the past decade. However, the platform function of community cooperatives in mobilizing human, social, and financial capital needs to be optimized [43]. The participation of social enterprises in rural revitalization is primarily manifested in industrial development, the construction of infrastructure, employment assistance, and income for farmers.

In conclusion, a limited amount of research has been devoted to social enterprises participating in rural revitalization in Northwest China. The available studies often take a single perspective, such as employment assistance, industrial development, or social governance, while paying little attention to comprehensive approaches that have industries, talents, organizations, culture, and ecosystems included. This study addresses these gaps by systematically exploring the action logic and practical approaches for social enterprises participating in Northwest China’s rural revitalization, which has considerable theoretical and practical value.

2.2. Research Methods

Over the past few years, scholars have conducted extensive discussions on the factors that influence the sustainable development of rural regions [44].

2.2.1. Environmental Analysis Methods

Common methods for analyzing the development environment of enterprises and regional development include SWOT (strengths–weaknesses–opportunities–threats) and PEST (political–economic–social–technological) analysis [45]. This paper integrated both methods to conduct an environmental analysis of the political, economic, social, and technological environments faced by social enterprises participating in rural revitalization in China’s northwest region, as well as the various opportunities and challenges they encounter. Based on a scientific assessment of the environment, strategic choices will be made.

2.2.2. Theoretical Deduction

This study, based on institutional logic theory, analyzed the process of social enterprises participating in rural revitalization in Northwest China, including the shift from a single logic of devotion and profit to a coupled and collaborative process of co-creating multiple values. The institutional logic theory systematically proposed by Battilana and Lee in their pioneering research explains how multiple institutional logics generate structural tensions within and outside organizations [46]. Generally, social enterprises driven by market pressures pursue economic value based on profit-oriented logic, but in certain contexts, they also face the problem of value disconnection. Social enterprises rely on public welfare logic and leverage social networks to provide public services for rural revitalization, but they face challenges such as resource shortages and scale limitations. Through theoretical deduction of the separation–integration–mutual construction of multiple logics in complex institutional contexts, this study constructed the logic of co-creation of multiple values for social enterprises’ participation in rural revitalization in China’s northwest region.

3. Environmental Analysis

The development trajectory of social enterprises is aligned closely with the path of Chinese modernization, which emphasizes a balance between the creation of wealth and its equitable distribution [47]. It also complies with the goals of rural revitalization and common prosperity. The “new quality productive forces” emphasize innovation-driven new industries, technologies, models, and forms that are characterized by creativity, integration, and high efficiency. Therefore, based on the perspective of “new quality productive forces”, conducting an environmental analysis and situation assessment of the external opportunities and challenges faced by social enterprises participating in rural revitalization in China’s northwest region will be more conducive to the precise positioning and strategic layout of China’s northwest region and social enterprises. Based on a scientific assessment of the environment, strategic choices will be made. The data cited in the environmental analysis primarily came from the official website of the National Bureau of Statistics of China (https://www.stats.gov.cn) and the CNKI China Socio-Economic Big Data Research Platform (https://data.cnki.net), including annual editions of the “China Statistical Yearbook,” “China Rural Statistical Yearbook,” “China Urban and Rural Construction Statistical Yearbook,” and “China Cultural Relics and Cultural Heritage Statistical Yearbook,” as well as annual statistical yearbooks and national economic and social development statistical bulletins from provinces and regions in Northwest China.

3.1. Opportunities for Social Enterprises Participating in Rural Revitalization in Northwest China

The national strategy of rural revitalization started in 2018; a series of rural habitat improvement measures have been implemented, and Northwest China has been a major focus of national strategy for a long time. The relevant projects ranged from the “Third Front Construction” (in the 1960s, China implemented a large-scale industrial relocation and national-defense-related industrial layout in the western inland areas) and the “Western Development Strategy” (a project implemented by the Chinese government to promote economic development and social progress in its western regions) to the “Belt and Road Initiative” (a top-level national cooperation initiative proposed by China) as well as the ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River basin.

3.1.1. Intersection of Strategies

One of the goals of the Western Development Strategy (proposed in 1999) aimed to promote coordinated urban and rural development in the western regions, and it narrowed the gap in development between eastern and western China. Luo (2015) has claimed that urban–rural integration is a key issue for western development [48]. In 2020, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued the “Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Formation of a New Pattern of Western Development in the New Era”, which stated that the western region needs to establish a new pattern of “great protection, great opening-up, and high-quality development.” In 2013, President Xi Jinping proposed the construction of the “Silk Road Economic Belt”. Shanxi takes this as its starting point, Gansu as a key section, Qinghai as a strategic base, Ningxia (Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region) as a strategic hub, and Xinjiang (Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region) as an important transportation hub and logistics center [49]. With the release of “the Outline of the National Plan for Ecosystem Protection and High-quality Development of Yellow River Basin in 2021”, China’s “Yellow River Strategy” emerged as a core national strategy involving Shanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, and Ningxia provinces or regions in Northwest China.

3.1.2. Abundant Energy Resources as a Base for National Export

Northwest China is characterized by rich natural resources. The four major basins there account for more than 20% of the country’s total petroleum reserves and 30% of its coal reserves, which are mainly distributed in Shanxi, Xinjiang, and Ningxia regions. In addition, natural gas reserves there account for nearly 60% of China’s onshore reserves; meanwhile, Gansu has more than 60% of China’s nickel reserves, while over 90% of the country’s potash reserves are located in Qinghai. The region’s arid and semi-arid climate, sparse vegetation, and long hours of sunlight make it rich in both wind and solar energy, which provide the highest ratio of renewable energy for China’s power grid system. Industries with green and energy-efficient circular economies and a clean energy industry should be prioritized by social enterprises.

3.1.3. Diverse Biological Species for National Biodiversity

Northwest China, being characterized by diverse landforms and significant climatic variations, is home to a wide variety of biological species. Gansu is becoming one of China’s main herbal-medicine-producing areas and is home to over 600 species of wild animals. Qinghai boasts over 2000 species of wild plants, including snow lotus, cordyceps, licorice, and bracken. The Ningxia Plain is famous for goji berries, licorice, Helan stone, Tan sheep, and edible black moss. Xinjiang, a leading region for temperate fruits, sugar crops, animal husbandry, and cotton production, is one of China’s four major pastoral areas. Social enterprises should take advantages of resources like the arid climate, high-altitude topography, and ecological and green elements in these regions.

3.1.4. Rich Cultural and Tourism Resources

Northwest China, being the home of several ethnic groups, boasts cultural, revolutionary, and natural resources, of which Shanxi contains the hometown of Emperor Yan and the burial site of Emperor Huang, and it has been nicknamed “the Eastern Pyramid”; it also features national historical and cultural cities like Xi’an and Yan’an. Gansu was one of the birthplaces of Chinese civilization, while Qinghai’s “Hua’er” folk art is recognized as intangible cultural heritage. However, despite the region’s rich cultural resources, the number of A-level scenic spots in Northwest China totals to less than 2000, which indicates that there is significant room for further development and integration of these resources. The resources of the region need to be fully integrated to develop intelligent and innovative cultural tourism industries.

3.2. Challenges Faced by Social Enterprises Participating in Rural Revitalization in Northwest China

3.2.1. Imbalance in Regional Development and Insufficient Urban–Rural Integration

Imbalance in National Development: In the year 2023, the combined GDP of the five provinces of Northwest China was CNY 7.39 trillion, accounting for only 5.86% of the national GDP, a figure below the national average. Shanxi Province had the highest per capita GDP of CNY 85,447.8, which is 96% of the national average, while Gansu Province had the lowest value of CNY 47,867, only 53.6% of the national average.

Imbalance in Regional Development: The region has significant economic disparities. Geographically, Shanxi, as the gateway to the northwest, has a much stronger economic strength than its western neighbors. In 2023, the combined GDP of Gansu, Qinghai, and Ningxia only accounted for 62.1% of that of Shanxi Province. In terms of change over time, Gansu’s share of Northwest China’s GDP has declined from 30.33% to 16.06%. This dominance of Shanxi Province, coupled with the decline of Gansu, Qinghai, and Ningxia, highlights the developmental disparities within the region.

Significant Gap in Urban–Rural Income: Geographically, the ratio of urban–rural income in Northwest China in 2023 was 2.61, higher than the national average (2.39) as well as that in the eastern (2.28) and central regions (2.4). In terms of change over time, the ratio of urban–rural income in the region decreased from 3.65 in 2000 to 2.61 in 2023, indicating a significant progress. However, the disparity in the income remains substantial and poses challenges to increasing farmers’ income, narrowing the gap in urban–rural income and achieving common prosperity.

3.2.2. Fragile Ecological Environment and Challenges to New Quality Rural Environment

The ecological environment in Northwest China is complex; various intertwined factors make it fragile. In 2023, the national forest coverage was 22.96%. Except in Shanxi, the rates of forest coverage of other four provinces in the region were below the national average, with Xinjiang presenting the lowest rate—only 21.2% of the national average and 11.3% of that of Shanxi (Figure 1).

The rate of national forest coverage has increased from 18.26% in 2003 to 22.96% in 2023, and that of all five provinces in Northwest China increased from 28.74%, 4.83%, 0.43%, 2.2%, and 1.08% to 43.06%, 11.33%, 5.82%, 12.63%, and 4.87%, respectively. Overall, the natural environment in the region has improved, but challenges still exist in both ecological protection and restoration.

3.2.3. Lack of Equilibrium in Industrial Structure

The tertiary sector is a critical factor in regional economic development in Northwest China. In 2023, the share of GDP from the tertiary sector of the five northwest provinces was lower than the national average (54.53%) and that of the eastern regions (57.49%). It was also lower than the GDP of the tertiary sectors in Germany, France, and Korea (Figure 2).

From the perspective of the industrial structure (Figure 2), transitioning from traditional manufacture to intelligent and green manufacture poses a challenge to Northwest China. Shanxi’s industrial output is 39.2% of its GDP, while Gansu’s industrial output accounts for 28.6% of its GDP, of which 51.2% comes from the non-ferrous and petroleum industries. Ningxia has the highest share of the industrial GDP in the region at 43.5% and saw notable growth in its biopharmaceutical and energy industries. Xinjiang’s industrial output accounted for 28.6% of its GDP and was dominated by energy and chemical products. Social enterprises in these regions should focus on optimizing the industrial structure and increasing the ratio of GDP of the tertiary industries, developing information services and blockchains, and encouraging both tourism and culture.

3.2.4. Poor Education and Severe Population Loss

The population in Northwest China has a low level of education in general, and the outflow of talents here is serious. Taking Gansu as an example, according to the Seventh National Census, the average number of years of schooling for those aged 15 and above is only 9.13 years, while the ratio of the population receiving a college education is 14.5%. Both are below the national average. Over the past decade, Gansu’s population has decreased by 0.22% annually, and it has negative growth in 11 of its 14 cities and prefectures, except for Lanzhou, Jiayuguan, and Linxia cities (prefecture-level). Social enterprises must address such challenges as poor education among the workforce, lack of high-level talents, and their outflow when participating in rural revitalization in Northwest China.

3.2.5. Low R&D Investment and Challenges to Rural Technological Innovation

According to the 2023 National Statistical Bulletin on Science and Technology Expenditures, released by the National Bureau of Statistics and the Ministry of Science and Technology, China’s expenditure on R&D was CNY 3.34 trillion in 2023, which was led by Guangdong with CNY 480.26 billion (

Table 1. R&D expenditure in Northwest China.

Regions	R&D Investment (CNY 100 million)	R&D Investment Intensity (%)
National	33,357.1	2.65
Shanxi	846	2.5
Gansu	156.2	1.32
Qinghai	30.3	0.8
Ningxia	85.5	1.61
Xinjiang	115.5	0.6

Data source: National Bureau of Statistics, 2023 national science and technology expenditure statistics bulletin. https://www.stats.gov.cn/xxgk/sjfb/zxfb2020/202410/t20241002_1956810.html, accessed on 2 October 2024.

).

The total expenditure on R&D by the five provinces and regions in Northwest China totaled to CNY 123.35 billion, accounting for only 3.7% of the national total expenditure and equivalent to 25.7% of that of Guangdong Province, as shown in Table 1. The intensity of R&D of all these provinces is below the national average of 2.65%. Specifically, Xinjiang has the lowest value of only 0.6%. Social enterprises need to integrate local resources, secure funding for R&D, and promote rural revitalization in the region through technological innovation.

The above analysis shows that Northwest China is a critical barrier of ecological security for the country, a challenging area for rural revitalization, and a transportation hub. However, its economic and social development run behind those elsewhere in China, and its ecological environment is relatively fragile. Social enterprises need to grasp external opportunities and address the relevant challenges by making use of regional advantages, mitigating risks, and adopting strategic approaches such as differentiation, innovation, openness, and coordination to engage in rural revitalization in Northwest China.

4. Action Logics

Represented by scholars such as Friedland and Alford, the institutional logic school of thought emphasizes that institutional actors are driven by multiple institutional logics in specific environments [51]. Battilana and Lee pioneered the institutional logic theory, pointing out that social logic and commercial logic are two fundamentally different institutional orders, and the tension between them constitutes the core issue in hybrid organization research. Social logic emphasizes the creation of social value, while commercial logic emphasizes the creation of economic value. In hybrid organizations, these two logics are embedded in organizational practices in the form of “institutionalized coexistence” [46]. Social enterprises combine economic and social logic, increasing the degree of cross-departmental integration and blending multiple logics to promote regional rural revitalization [52]. As hybrid organizations that blend market-related and public welfare logic, social enterprises can integrate multiple logics to support regional rural revitalization. They have socially driven market viability and are inherently compatible with a market economy [53]. Social enterprises use commercial methods to operate and embody the dual characteristics of non-profit organizations and commercial institutions [54]. They address issues of livelihood while achieving economic benefits through innovative solutions, thus acting as the “brokers of people’s livelihoods” [55].

4.1. Profit-Seeking Logic

4.1.1. Logic of “Forerunners Helping Late-Comers” Under the Concept of Common Prosperity

Long-term urban-biased policies have been the primary cause of slow rural development and “Three Rural Issues” (i.e., issues concerning agriculture, rural areas, and farmers) in China [56,57]. Social enterprises help address the shortcomings in rural development by increasing farmers’ income, narrowing the urban–rural income gap, and promoting common prosperity. They directly engage with farmers to join their operations, modernize traditional agricultural practices, enhance agricultural efficiency, and strengthen their risk management and technical capacities. This improves both productive and operational incomes. Moreover, they provide employment opportunities and investment plans that can diversify the sources of income and increase wages and income from property for farmers.

4.1.2. Logic of “Resource Coordination” Under Pareto Optimality

The theory of resource coordination emphasizes that resources are critical factors in forming a competitive regional advantage. Social enterprises can serve as intermediaries to connect resources with competitive advantages by dynamically adjusting resource combinations and capability configurations based on the internal and external environments [56,57]. According to this logic, social enterprises first identify and arrange the resources required for rural revitalization in specific rural contexts in the region and then recombine the resources and act immediately to transform them into capabilities and tackle emerging challenges to rural revitalization. They use resource reconfiguration to leverage capabilities and seize opportunities, optimize resource allocation and maximize their economic value.

4.2. Logic of Devotion

4.2.1. Logic of “People’s Interests First” Under the Concept of “People-Centered Development”

People-centered development is the most distinctive feature of Marxism and an inherent requirement of its materialist conception of history. Upholding the logic of “people’s interests first” is the appropriate stance for social enterprises participating in rural revitalization. They must accurately identify rural needs and answer the question of who it is that they operate for.

4.2.2. Logic of “Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration” Under the Concept of a “Community with a Shared Future”

Rural revitalization involves optimizing such resources as people, capital, and materials in rural areas, as well as the collaboration of stakeholders, including social enterprises, governments, businesses, and higher education institutions. It also emphasizes the integration of rural and urban areas and breaking down barriers to the flow of resources and urban–rural divides to create a community of shared responsibility and benefits. The concept of a “community with a shared future” requires that rural revitalization in the northwest region can form the patterns of shared construction, governance, and benefits, with farmers as the main constituents. This is aided by coordinated interactions involving multiple actors, such as social enterprises, commercial enterprises, social organizations, the governments, and research and development institutions.

4.2.3. Logic of “Equivalence” Under the Concept of “Urban–Rural Integration”

Urban–rural relationships influence Chinese modernization [56,57]. The main objects of rural revitalization are rural areas and should follow the logic of urban–rural equalization. The core concept of equalization is that although rural and urban lives are different, they have equal value. Farmers should enjoy “different yet equivalent” conditions to those of the urban residents in such aspects as living environment, quality and types of public services, and opportunities and rights for economic development. According to social exchange theory, social enterprises collect urban resources in rural areas to promote their orderly flow. By developing rural cultural and tourism industries, they also enable urban residents to experience rural culture, meet the needs of urban residents for tourism and vacations, and promote urban–rural relations [57].

4.3. Co-Creation of Multi-Dimensional Value: Coupling Devotion and Profit-Seeking Logics

The conflict between emotion and interest has been a central theme in the study of organizational management. Commercial enterprises and social organizations often pursue singular goals, focusing on either economic or social objectives during rural revitalization. When social enterprises operate in Northwest China’s rural areas, the following outcomes can be obtained (Figure 3):

• If social enterprises are driven solely by the logic of devotion, in the sense of fulfilling their social responsibilities and achieving social and ecological goals (represented by Line a in Figure 3), they can address the issues of governmental and market failure in rural revitalization, but risk being afflicted with the problem of “voluntary failure.”
• If social enterprises are driven solely by profit-seeking logic, in the sense of achieving their economic goals through such means as the rich leading the poor and resource reallocation (represented by Line c in Figure 3), they may overcome “voluntary failure” but risk market failure.

When coupling the logics of devotion and profit, social enterprises design incentives and constraints to align their organizational missions with strategies for rural revitalization that can balance economic, social, and ecological development. This hybrid logic identifies commonalities among conflicting goals to render them compatible and mobilizes stakeholders like commercial enterprises, social organizations, and the government to co-create multi-dimensional value. The ideal scenario is represented by Line b in Figure 3.

Whether social enterprises participating in different projects for rural revitalization in different times and areas should emphasize the logic of devotion or profit is gradually determined by mechanics within the organization and interactions between the organization and its stakeholders. At the same time, it continually evolves with changes in such factors as the rural environment, emotions, and interests to form the curve B, shown in Figure 3, that fluctuates around the ideal state Line b.

5. Practical Approaches

Practical approaches have to be proposed for social enterprises participating in rural revitalization in Northwest China from the perspective of “new quality productivity”.

The “new” in new quality productivity should reflect the integration of “three new labor-related elements” (new laborers, new means of production, and new labor objects) and “three new economic forms” (new technologies, new business formats, and new models) [58]. From this perspective, social enterprises propelling rural revitalization in Northwest China must align their efforts with the national strategy while considering the conditions of rural and agricultural development in the given region. They should adopt the coupled logic of co-creation of multi-dimensional value and ought to embody the concepts of “people-centered development” and “a community with a shared future” (Figure 4).

5.1. Cultivating New Quality Talents: Supporting the Revitalization of Rural Talents Through “External Introduction + Internal Support + Sharing”

Resource-based theory emphasizes that resources must meet four conditions—value, scarcity, difficulty of imitation, and irreplaceability—to form a sustainable competitive advantage [59]. Dynamic capability theory emphasizes that regions can reorganize resources to respond to environmental changes [60]. Drucker believed that human resources are the most productive, versatile, and abundant resources of all [61]. The cultivation of new-type talent is the starting point for the creation of diverse value in the rural revitalization process of China’s northwest region.

5.1.1. Cultivating Social Entrepreneurs

Innovative and entrepreneurial spirits energize social enterprises to merge business models with social value [62]. Cultivating social entrepreneurs should emphasize their political acumen and abilities in environmental analysis and self-innovation, inspiring their vitality and proactivity in upgrading industrial technologies, products, and organizations so as to foster new driving forces for rural revitalization.

5.1.2. Building the Talent Engine and Organizing Four New Talent Groups to Support Rural Development

Social enterprises should construct a talent engine through cultivation, introduction, and sharing. They should use training and certification to create a new generation of farmers who “love agriculture, are educated and technically skilled,” and this ensures that these talents can be retained and used. They need to transform capable rural individuals into “technically adept, management-savvy and innovation-ready” managers through lectures, courses, and tailored training. Moreover, they need to build a cadre of “idealistic, responsible and action-oriented” grassroots officials through external recruitment and internal training to enhance the capacities of governance. This will lead to a new team of “virtuous, educated, and accomplished” local sages who are models of morality. Qishan County in Northwest China has activated local productivity by cultivating new types of farmers and promoting wide-row wheat planting technology, achieving a yield of 840 kg per mu in demonstration fields under arid conditions. It has also cultivated “noodle artisans” and used the “noodle economy” to link wheat planting, processing, catering, and e-commerce with an annual output value of more than CNY 16 billion across the entire industry chain, achieving the integration of the talent chain, industry chain, entrepreneurship chain, and value chain [63].

5.2. Establishing New Quality Industrial System for Rural Industrial Revitalization

5.2.1. Insisting on “Specialization” and “Integration” to Optimize Industrial Structure and Layout

Developing Distinctive Industries

Social enterprises should focus on green, low-carbon, and culture-oriented tourism industries that are tailored to market diversity. They need to develop farm products to be “premium, refined, unique and specialized” and position them in terms of high quality and differentiation. In the context of the industrial layout, they should consider both advantages and characteristics of each of the five provinces of Northwest China, and guide them to build ecological zones, red-culture tourism zones, zones of high-quality grain production, and agricultural zones that are characteristic of plateaus, characteristic planting and breeding zones, as well as tourism and sightseeing zones to avoid homogenization. Moreover, social enterprises should strengthen regional industrial linkage to reap the benefits of industrial agglomeration and diffusion.

Integrating the Agricultural Industry Chain into the Tertiary Industry

For industrial integration, social enterprises should focus on the regional advantages of Northwest China, the attributes of rural development, and the multi-functionality of agriculture. They ought to promote the integration of agriculture with such industries as tourism, education, culture, and healthcare. Attention should be paid to the expansion of agricultural and rural functions to new business forms, such as leisure, vacations, and education. The “culture–tourism–agriculture economy,” “experience economy,” and “manor economy” are all effective approaches to this end. Industrial integration should be based on new technologies, such as AI, big data, and the IoT so that digitalization and intelligence can be integrated with modern agriculture to expand available business channels.

5.2.2. Introducing New Technologies and Ideas for Green and Efficient Production Systems

Social enterprises need to support green models like organic agriculture and the circular economy, promote ecological and green productive development, and ensure the health, greenness, safety, and eco-friendliness of the manufactured products. On the one hand, there is a need to innovate in crop cultivation, pest prevention, and soil conservation to drive green and low-carbon agricultural progress; on the other hand, social enterprises need to establish rural service platforms to apply intelligent information technologies to the agricultural training, product development, and precision marketing. This will lead to the popularization of new technologies among populations.

In the new productive forces paradigm, the participation of social enterprises in rural industrial revitalization is a dynamic process which couples social enterprises guiding the new industrial system (characteristics, integration, and technology) with new labor objects (embeddedness, fluidity, and innovation).

5.3. Strengthening New Quality Environments and Advancing Ecological Revitalization

Rural revitalization is a dynamic and evolving process that seeks to integrate together people, spaces, industries, and actors. This process requires the development of a robust rural infrastructure, which should be a critical lever for social enterprises to participate in ecological revitalization in Northwest China.

5.3.1. Rebuilding Rural Production Spaces to Improve the Quality of Production and Consumption

Social enterprises should localize their operations and focus on “specialized villages,” “characteristic towns,” and “new industrial parks” to support the development of emerging integrated industries, such as leisure agriculture, health and wellness, ecological tourism, and smart elderly care to construct an efficient space for production.

5.3.2. Reconstructing Rural Living Spaces to Improve Residential Quality

Social enterprises need to make full use of their strengths to guide and assist regions in planning urban–rural spatial linkages at the county level by following the principles of “moderate aggregation and efficient integration.” Targeting counties as the sites of urban–rural conjunction can help promote the overall planning of special urban–rural development and promote rural greening and beautification while preserving traditional villages and rural aesthetics. Social enterprises should advocate for green and low-carbon lifestyles and expand new services like online healthcare, new retail, and smart elderly care. They also need to strengthen the construction of infrastructure to achieve the “three connections” (roads, water, and the internet).

5.3.3. Restoring Ecological Features to Improve Environmental Quality

Social enterprises should adhere to ecological protection principles and strengthen restoration and management. They should also encourage and develop “ecological+” industries with distinct regional characteristics, as well as planning ecological spaces (mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes, and grasslands) to create a comprehensive ecological safety network and foster harmonious coexistence between people and nature.

5.4. Strengthening Technological and Cultural Collaborative Innovation: From “Conflict” to “Integration”

The essence of science and technology–culture synergy innovation is that technology is used to revitalize rural culture, and then culture is used to give technology emotional warmth. Based on the principle of symbiosis, digital technology promotes the integrated development of rural culture and tourism by improving the efficiency of symbiotic units, realizing the visualization of symbiotic environment monitoring, and promoting the intelligence of symbiotic models [64].

5.4.1. Cultural Exploration and Activation

Based on traditional rural culture, social enterprises need to explore cultural and historical resources of Northwest China, including its folk customs and ancient architectures. Through integrating traditional culture with modern science and technologies, social enterprises can fully support eco-civilization-oriented rural development.

5.4.2. Enhancing Scientific and Cultural Literacy Among Citizens

Social enterprises should host lectures and training sessions and establish rural science platforms to disseminate knowledge about AI and advanced agricultural technologies. Integrating scientific and cultural knowledge in ways that rural populations demand can ensure their lasting impact and widespread adoption.

5.5. Strengthening Rural Social Enterprises Based on Hybrid Logic

As a social enterprise initiated and established by the China Rural Development Foundation, Shanpin Gongshe follows the logic of passion, emphasizing social value, providing social services in rural areas, and cultivating professional cooperatives. At the same time, based on market logic, it focuses on economic value, cooperating with commercial enterprises to help cooperatives expand their sales channels and market influences, thereby achieving co-creation of economic and social value.

5.5.1. Localizing Social Enterprises to Meet Rural Demands

The localization of social enterprises means that the products or services provided by them must satisfy the needs of rural revitalization in Northwest China. Social enterprises should develop “new rural sages,” “new farmers,” and “new herdsmen,” and support them in promoting tourism-based agriculture, developing experience-typed agriculture and customized agriculture. They also need to support moderate-sized family farms through financial aid, talent cultivation, technical assistance, and sales channels. Moreover, social enterprises should integrate resources and cancel “shell enterprises” that exist only in name to ensure the solutions to social problems, so as to strengthen market-oriented operation and management, improve the efficiency of production, service and management, and the profit-making mechanism. They also need to encourage industry associations to participate in rural industrial services and establish a three-level service structure of “general station–service center–service station” to improve rural production technologies, circulation, and marketing.

5.5.2. Commercializing Social Organizations to Create Commercial Value with Social Responsibility

Under this model, social organizations make profit through commercial activities such as service charges and sales and use their profits to solve social problems. The commercialization of social organizations turns them into social enterprises [65]. For example, a charity association makes profit by selling tickets for galas and auctioning celebrity items and then donates the proceeds to the needy.

5.5.3. Socializing Commercial Enterprises to Create Social Value Through Commercial Approaches

Commercial enterprises can use their profits to create social value and achieve public-welfare-related goals while creating social value. They enhance their own influence and then create more economic value, thus attaining a win–win situation. Taking Meituan (a Chinese e-commerce company mainly providing life services) as an example, in order to effectively respond to the public’s environmental concerns about plastics, takeout food packaging, and waste, it launched the “Green Mountain Plan,” the first action in the takeout industry which focusing on environmental protection. From the “public welfare model” to the “shared value model” and then to the “common benefit model,” it has achieved remarkable results in jointly creating green value through socialization [66].

5.5.4. Crossing Organizational Boundaries for Multi-Level Collaboration

Organizational boundaries shape the relationship between collaborators and performance [67]. Social enterprises need to adopt new thinking and approaches, identify the core issues, transcend organizational boundaries, optimize resource allocation, and address the current situation where “society is weak, the government is enthusiastic, and the market is indifferent.” This will highlight the role of social enterprises, stimulate the initiative of various collaborative entities to participate in rural revitalization in Northwest China, and promote multi-level, multi-domain exchanges and cooperation.

Breaking Boundaries and Strengthening Collaboration Among Organizations

Social enterprises should focus on strengthening both communication and cooperation with stakeholders, including commercial enterprises, non-profit organizations, the government, and research institutions in the region. They should also seek to constantly attract other organizations to participate and jointly create values for rural revitalization. They need to provide multi-channel paths of participation for new entrants and establish a mechanism of social incentive for different types of entities to participate in rural revitalization.

Strengthening the Cooperation Within the Region

Based on the high-quality development opportunities of the nine provinces along the Yellow River, promoting the construction of the Yellow River Economic Belt in Shanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, and other provinces and regions strengthens the industrial agglomeration and integrated layout within the region and highlights the characteristics of water conservation and greenness of industries. For example, the Ningxia Yellow River Irrigation in Northwest China coordinates the agricultural, industrial and ecological water consumption across regions based on the concept of a community with shared destiny to alleviate water pressures. Based on the Silk Road Economic Belt, developing the westward international trade corridor in the five northwest provinces improve the high-tech service capabilities, swift circulation, and quick response within the region, and enhance the constructions of information channel, transportation, and internet service.

Increasing Regional Cooperation to Smoothen Domestic Channels of Circulation

Social enterprises should make use of the Qinghai–Xizang Railway and the Longhai–Lanzhou–Xinjiang Railway to build close links to economic centers such as the eastern Longhai regions and Chengdu–Chongqing Twin Cities. They should cooperate with other regions, build the mechanisms for inter-regional development, make the channels of circulation smooth among regions, and seek complementary advantages to achieve mutual benefits.

Open and Inclusive International Cooperation

Social enterprises should promote the high-level opening up of rural areas to the outside world and participate in international interaction. They need to exploit the advantages of the “Belt and Road Initiative” as well as local resources, expand towards the west while strengthening cooperation with other regions, and shape a new era of international cooperation.

6. Conclusions and Discussion

6.1. Research Conclusions

Social enterprises, as hybrid organizations with both market and social logics, can not only solve livelihood problems but also use innovative solutions to achieve economic benefits, driving the revitalization of villages in underdeveloped regions in terms of both economic and social benefits. Environmental analysis results indicate that social enterprises participating in rural revitalization in China’s northwest region face both opportunities and challenges. On the one hand, they benefit from multiple national strategic supports, diverse biological species, and abundant energy and cultural tourism resources. On the other hand, they also confront challenges such as unbalanced and inadequate regional development, relatively fragile ecological environments, unreasonable industrial structures, severe population outflow, and low R&D investment. Social enterprises need to fully leverage their strengths, capitalize on opportunities while mitigating risks, and adopt strategies such as uniqueness, innovation, openness, and coordination to participate in rural revitalization in the northwest region. Based on the theoretical framework of institutional logic, social enterprises should integrate the logic of devotion and profit and adopt a mixed action logic rooted in the co-creation of diverse values. They should actively participate in this through approaches such as cultivating new quality talent, constructing a new quality industrial system, shaping a new quality rural environment, fostering synergistic innovation between science and technology and culture, and strengthening and revitalizing social enterprises. This will drive the comprehensive revitalization of talent, industry, ecology, culture, and organizational structures in rural areas of China’s northwest region.

6.2. Research Gaps

This study primarily employs strategic environmental analysis and theoretical deduction methods to explore the logics and approaches of social enterprises’ participation in rural revitalization in Northwest China from the perspective of new quality productive forces. The main limitations of this study are as follows: firstly, the research methods primarily utilize environmental analysis and theoretical deduction, and theses methods’ scientific rigor needs to be further enhanced; secondly, the study has not conducted an in-depth exploration of the mechanisms and contexts through which social enterprises in the northwest region participate in rural revitalization, lacking model construction, hypothesis formulation, and empirical testing.

6.3. Research Prospects

Future research should integrate methods such as grounded research, empirical research, and case studies to enhance both reliability and validity of the research. Additionally, it should construct a scientific theoretical model, propose corresponding hypotheses, and conduct empirical testing based on the actual situation of social enterprises’ participation in rural revitalization in Northwest China so as to explore their multiple influence mechanisms and contexts, including enriching the research on the relationship between social enterprises and rural development.