Guiyang rural revitalization to kick start new era for province

Projects set to bring more prosperity to countryside areas and lift people out of poverty

Southwest China's Guizhou is in the process of revitalizing its rural economy, launching a series of projects aimed at improving people's livelihoods to kick start a new era for the province.

Sun Zhigang, Guizhou provincial Party chief, said, "Rural revitalization reform will benefit 2.8 million poor people and 20 million farmers in Guizhou."

Speaking at a news conference for Guizhou NPC deputies on March 8 during the first session of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Sun added, "The government will take revolutionary action to solve a series of poverty problems in villages."

Infrastructure such as roads will have a high priority on the agenda, and the province will help villagers move to better areas with more resources and facilities, as well as help to alleviate poverty and guarantee education, healthcare and housing, said the Party chief.

Chen Yan, mayor of Guiyang, capital of Guizhou province, said that 93,333 hectares of land in villages will be optimized to have greater industrial value over the next three years, with more profitable crops planted to account for more than 80 percent of the total farming industry.

On the outskirts of the city, beautiful villages will be constructed which feature mountains, lakes and forests, all of which will become assets to help the local tourism industry grow. Additionally, scenic areas will be complemented by catering, accommodation and retail infrastructure.

In 2018, Guiyang plans to attract leading enterprises to invest in the city and to develop high quality tours of outlying rural areas, as well as adjust the industrial structure and optimize agricultural product quality.

To ensure the quality, Guiyang plans to work with the Chinese Academy of Inspection and Quarantine Comprehensive Test Center and an agricultural product security research center. The cooperation will use big data to track the quality, quarantine and sales of agricultural products.

Guiyang will promote the development of a whole industry chain integrating agricultural product processing, sales expansion and agriculture industry chain extension.

In addition, the construction of village complexes will be improved so as to include the development of agricultural science and technology, the integration of agriculture and tourism, agricultural products logistics, rural finance, agricultural exhibition and e-commerce sectors.

Chen said, "Through rural revitalization reform, agriculture will become a more promising industry and farming will become a more attractive job."

Industrial expansion

Residents of Yangchang village in Wudang district, Guiyang have enjoyed the changes brought about by the rural revitalization thus far.

Before 2013, the village was focused only on the development of traditional agriculture and villagers' incomes were limited by only growing corn and rice.

When construction projects from Guiyang demonstration towns and Guiyang national agricultural science and technology demonstration zones moved to Yangchang village in 2013, residents were able to increase their earnings by working for cooperatives, said Ou Chunlin, the village Party secretary.

"The income of villagers increased but the village development of industries was still lagging behind," Ou said.

In 2016, Yangchang village encouraged its residents to develop its agriculture toward the cultivation of flowers and plants, as well as improve its tourism and service sectors. In the process, villagers were able to become shareholders in the projects by using their land as investment.

Wu Xiugui, head of Chunzhi Flower and Plant Professional Cooperative, said that Yangchang village set up its own cooperative which borrowed farmers' land, paying them 800 yuan ($126.21) a year per 667 square meters.

"Our cooperative has three greenhouses, with a planting area of flowers and plants of more than 8,000 square meters and 26.7 hectares of outdoor fruit and vegetables," Wu said.

With the support of the Guiyang National Agriculture Science and Technology Park Administrative Committee and a local company named Wucai Ecological Agriculture Development Investment, Yangchang village has attracted many enterprises to invest.

One of the village's landmark deals was signed with Chencun Flower and Plant Company to provide hundreds of thousands of flowers to Guangzhou in South China's Guangdong province.

"Yangchang village has a good environment to cultivate flower saplings with strong disease resistance, which attracts many clients to place orders," Wu added.

Demonstration town

Wucai Ecological Agriculture Development Investment Company has played an important role in the revitalization of rural Guiyang. The company is not only an investor in Yangchang village but also one of the builders of the Huahua town in Guiyang city.

Huahua, as a demonstration town of the city, is a comprehensive cultural and leisure sightseeing destination that features beautiful flower displays, entertainment and business facilities.

Long Yunzhi, deputy general manager of Wucai, said that the town provides a platform for villagers to farm the land, such as turning up soil, watering and protecting saplings - that in turn supplements their incomes.

More than 50,000 people took part in the yearlong construction of the town, with more than 700 employees working per day in peak periods.

Every year from March to September, the town plants seasonal flowers to attract visitors. Characteristic folk-custom hotels, farm stays and parent-child entertainment activities are also on hand for visitors.

According to official statistics, Huahua town attracted more than 800,000 visitors last year, generating a tourism income of 60 million yuan.

Long said that in 2018 the company will invest 30 million yuan to upgrade and transform more industries in the town.

Infrastructure revamps

According to the governmental development plan, Guiyang will make effort to improve the construction of infrastructure in all villages from 2016-20.

The construction of roads, improved water and electricity supply and better accommodation and communication will be promoted across Guiyang's villages.

Villagers are also benefiting from an improved local environment thanks to rural revitalization.

Last year, Guiyang improved the environment of 750 of its villages and aims to have completed improvements on all of its villages by 2020.

Chen Yan said that the collecting and treatment of sewage and household waste is an important part of rural revitalization.

"The government plans to build a small-sized sewage treatment station in every village in next three years, which will start to operate in the second half of this year," Chen added.

(China Daily 03/13/2018 page20)