Rural delegates to CPC National Congress share experiences

The report delivered by General-Secretary Xi Jinping to the 19th CPC National Congress has highlighted the development of China's rural areas. The rural economy, environment, culture and people's living standards are the key issues, which are also what the rural residents expect to continuously improve. Some delegates to the ongoing Congress have deep-rooted rural experience, and they say they are willing to do more for China's rural residents.

CRI's Victor Ning has more.

Hai Ju used to be a businesswoman running her family's hotels in Fangjiazhuang Village of Urumqi, Xinjiang. She became the head of the village several years ago and shared her experience with 800 villagers, helping them to boost their income. She realized that a very important step to increase income was to widen their vision, so she led some villagers to visit the regions that have developed strong rural tourism, like Sichuan and Hainan Provinces. 

"Why do I keep on leading them to learn? Because we have to learn from other regions. Every time I stay in a hotel, I observe how the owner manages it. People need to learn in every phase of their lives." 

She also organized agricultural technology and cooking lessons for her villagers. In 2016, the entire village had an aggregate income of 26 million yuan or 4 million US dollars, and the average income per capita reached 40 thousand yuan. Hai Ju says the development of rural areas can be reflected in the details of people's lives.

"The women in our village, after running small hotels, learned business etiquette and management, even their make-up, hairstyles and aprons have become very fashionable. Their children now have chances to take classes in dancing, the arts and sports." 

While some primary-level delegates like Hai Ju shared their successful business experiences to help people, some others introduced new projects into their villages.

In Dongshan village of Yunnan Province, there are 50 thousand mu or 3,300 hectares of walnut trees and about one thousand mu of Chinese prickly ash trees. These were introduced and first planted by Li Yingfen, who says the process was difficult in the beginning. 

"At first some people opposed my idea. However, I believed our village very much needed to incorporate the planting of these trees, which are essential in boosting our income. Planting potatoes and corns was only enough to produce food, not enough for development. So I insisted on the project." 

Now the average annual per-capita income in Li's village reaches 10 thousand yuan. Li says there is still a long way to go, but she has a plan. 

"Next I will call for establishing an agricultural products union and try to have a walnut oil processing factory in our village."

In addition, rural economy can be harmonious with the environment. Lao Guangrong, head of Hetian Village in Quzhou of Zhejiang Province, believes in a sustainable and balanced future for China's rural areas.

"The development of rural areas needs to be green. Even in remote and small villages, people could enjoy a good environment."

At present, China's rural population still accounts for a large percentage of the entire population. Their development and lives are closely connected to the country's overall growth. 

For CRI, I'm Victor Ning.