ABSTRACT
Since the late 1980s, but especially since mid-1992, departments in Tianjin’s commerce administration have become involved in various kinds of new business activities. Most commonly, commerce bureaux, supply and marketing co-operatives (SMCs), and their subordinate departments have been setting up new, profit-seeking enterprises. These enterprises resemble those established by state agencies in the real estate management system in that they are usually small, employ officials and share their profits with their parent department.1 However, commerce departments had usually set up more enterprises than the REM departments.
