Beehive society: a new concept for observation of China’s social-economic transformation

The new concept of “Beehive Society” proposed here is corresponding to the term “umbrella society” that was put forward by the author in 2014. This article analyzes basic structure and functions of five types of “beehives” from two categories through two perspectives of employment and management, including chain type, net type beehives of employees, and family, value chain, native ethnic centered beehives of manager. “Beehive society” has no such power or resourcesdue to its folk nature, it can only achieve market space and development opportunity through its own efforts; it is more social and economical rather than being political. The common feature of the various “beehives” in the society is mutual benefit and win-win model; once the “beehives” turn into a group network or ethnic network, it can become economical, social as well as political, and has the power of resources allocation and marketization institutional change.