(China Poverty Reduction Story) A counterattack in an economically backward village: "Pocket" and "Head" are now rich
China News Service, Suzhou, July 6 Question: Counterattack in an economically backward village: "Pocket" and "Head" are now rich
Author Zhou Jianlin
Walking into Yonglian Village, Zhangjiagang City, Jiangsu Province, surrounded by green bricks, daiwa, small bridges, flowing water... A modern village with a unique Jiangnan style is in front of you. It is hard to imagine that this was one of the smallest, least populated and economically backward villages in Suzhou.
Today, Yonglian Village has become a wealthy village with economic strength and comprehensive development at the forefront of the country, with a per capita income of more than 58,000 yuan (RMB, the same below).
Overlooking Yonglian Village from a height, Yonggang Group, a new industrial area covering more than 6,000 acres, Yonglian Township, a concentrated residential area for farmers covering more than 1,000 acres, and a modern agricultural area covering more than 8,000 acres, are in three areas: Within 12 square kilometers, Yonglian Village outlines the style of China's new countryside.
Rome wasn't built in a day, so was the village of Yonglian. Wu Huifang, Secretary of the Party Committee of Yonglian Village, introduced that in 1970, a group of poor people reclaimed and built Yonglian Village along the Yangtze River. Until 1978, the local area was the smallest and poorest village in Shazhou County (formerly Zhangjiagang). Later, with the advancement of reform and opening up, the demand for steel increased significantly. Yonglian Village discovered the business opportunities and started Yonglian Steel Rolling Mill with 300,000 yuan, which is now Jiangsu Yonggang Group Co., Ltd. In 2019, the group once again ranked among the top 500 Chinese private enterprises.
Since then, Yonggang Group began to feed Yonglian Village. In 2002, Yonglian Village implemented the "Village-Enterprise Integration", and 25% of the equity reserved during the company's restructuring was given to the village collective, and the village collective could pay dividends from corporate profits every year.
After getting rich, "rich head" has become the new pursuit of Yonglian Village. How to make villagers become civilized citizens is the goal of Yonglian Village and it is also a practical difficulty. In Wu Huifang's words, Yonglian Village "the biggest problem is the quality of people."
To this end, Yonglian Village began to explore the modernization of rural governance model. The village introduced public management and services from the city to the countryside, and established the Yonglian Scenic Spot Management Leading Group to achieve the equalization of public management and public services in the urban and rural areas; the establishment of the Yonghe Community in Yonglian Township to undertake social management such as community civil mediation And service functions; establish various social organizations to provide effective supplements for social governance.
The Villager's Chamber is one of the iconic buildings in Yonglian Village. There are more than 200 seats in the Chamber of Deputies. Whenever there is a major issue in the village that needs to be decided, the villagers’ representatives must gather here and fully express their opinions before voting.
"Now the villagers are more and more reasonable, and the discussions will not be as quarreling as the village entrance. What is more gratifying is that they have gradually turned from "watching the lively" to "listening to the door", actively studying the legal regulations, and bringing the text with them. Discuss." said Huang Meijuan, a member of the council who attended the meeting many times.
Today, civilized and courteous, loving and mutual assistance has become the conscious action of every Yonglian person. On the Charity Street in Yonglian Village, more than 50 units and more than 1,000 charities participated in the governance of social civilization; more than 2,200 volunteers routinely carried out volunteer service projects such as loving tutoring and loving lunch; villagers, employees, and enterprises raised 2000 A multi-million-dollar Yonglian Fund for the People helps the villagers in need.
The spiritual life of the villagers is also enriched. In the evening, Yu Suyan swipes into the Yonglian Library. In the country's first rural free 24-hour library, there are newspapers from all over the country. The principle of subscription is that as many migrant workers from the province as there are in the village, order as many newspapers as possible. This move allowed Yu Suyan from Anhui to find a sense of belonging and hometown intimacy. In the square not far from the library, people were talking and laughing with music and colorful flashing lights.
At that time, Yonglian people named their villages with the expectation of "union forever and progress together". Today, Yonglian Village after Xiaokang is interpreting the true meaning of "common progress", constantly giving new meaning to "Xiaokang". (Finish)