Even before other socialist countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the former Soviet Union (FSU) had done so, China and Vietnam embarked on a decollectivization process, where collective farming was completely abolished and family farming re-emerged. When the CEE and FSU countries started farm restructuring during the early 1990s, the East Asian way seemed to be the model. Some countries followed suit, while others provided the legal basis for a competitive environment between various types of farm organizations. One vital feature, however, is the fact that agricultural service cooperatives, contrary to China and Vietnam, only play a marginal role in these countries. Though the farmers from China and Vietnam and from the CEE and FSU countries had equally bitter memories of their respective collective periods, we argue that additional stakeholders were decisive in cooperative development. This might be a vital factor for why agricultural production prospered so quickly.