Pei Chunliang: Following the Party on the road to common prosperity

“Local residents have asked me to convey their sincere gratitude to the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core for the changes that have taken place in the village.” Entrusted by his fellow villagers, Pei Chunliang, a rural grassroots Party member from a village south of the Taihang mountains, was one of the 2,280 delegates who attended the 19th CPC National Congress in Beijing on October 18-24.

Pei Chunliang, delegate to the 19th CPC National Congress and secretary of the CPC Peizhai Village Committee, Zhangcun Township, Huixian City, Henan Province. [Photo by Dong Ning, China.org.cn]

Pei is secretary of the CPC Peizhai Village Committee in Zhangcun Township, Huixian City of Henan Province. Born in 1970, he grew up amid the poverty and suffering that beset Peizhai village in the 1970s and 80s. “Fetching water in bamboo buckets, using sweet potato for bread, dozens of men lacking the means to marry, and no shoes to wear in winter,” was the grim reality of village life that he knew. However, these hardships strengthened Pei’s resolve to overcome his plight. Through sustained hard work he changed his dire predicament and became the first private entrepreneur in Peizhai to grow rich. In 2005, Pei’s fellow villagers, confident that he could lead them to prosperity, elected him director of the village committee. Peizhai has since embarked on the road to poverty alleviation through a combination of industrial economy and tourism development.

Prosperity heartens

Having laid down the blueprint for the Chinese dream and the start of a new era in the great cause of rejuvenation of the nation, the past five years since the 18th National Congress of the CPC have witnessed a truly remarkable period of historic changes aimed at benefiting the people. The masses have indeed experienced fundamental life changes. People now afford healthcare and enjoy broader access to nine-year compulsory education, and pensions have risen. Poverty alleviation programs have moreover lifted significant numbers of households out of poverty. Under the leadership of the Party, unparalleled development has taken place in distant Peizhai village, south of the Taihang mountains.

Pei Chunliang, delegate to the 19th CPC National Congress and secretary of the CPC Peizhai Village Committee in Zhangcun Township, Huixian City of Henan Province, speaks at a group meeting during the week-long Congress. [Photo by Dong Liang, China.org.cn]

“Today, our village is proactively promoting sightseeing agriculture, flower planting, aquaculture, ‘red tourism’ and cross-border e-commerce. We also market sweet potato vermicelli, millet, haw berries and other special agricultural products. The village kindergarten, primary school, clinic, and other public services are all equipped with the required facilities, and all school children receive free milk. Tourism and online shopping have become part of the villagers’ lifestyle, and more than half of the families here own cars.” Pei is clearly, and justifiably proud of the changes that have taken place in the village over the past five years.

The transparency of Party conduct has also brought changes in folk customs. The formerly rampant corrupt practices in rural regions, apparent in resource-wasting, have been significantly curtailed, and the traditional virtues of diligence and thrift reasserted. Peizhai has also established wedding and funeral councils whose services help local residents perform these expected ceremonies at a more reasonable cost. 

Securing and improving people's livelihood is China’s main priority. Pei Chunliang considers the future of the countryside as part of his responsibilities. “Henan is a major agricultural province. It’s my duty as a Party secretary at the grassroots level, to plan the village’s development and oversee its layout of industries and cultural amenities, in accordance with Comrade Xi Jinping’s report,” Pei said.

Remain true to the original aspiration and aim for greater prosperity

Pei Chunliang (L2) leads villagers in the rebuilding of Peizhai village.

Xi’s report at the 19th CPC National Congress called for the bringing into effect of a rural vitalization strategy aimed at agriculture, the countryside, and farmers' livelihoods. As fundamental to national interests, these main features head the Party’s priorities in its work of developing modern agriculture and accelerating rural modernization.

As a grassroots Party chief, Pei is committed to promoting the work of Peizhai community in three main respects.

First is organizing village Party members to study and apply the spirit of the 19th CPC National Congress, because “the correct path is more important than anything."

Second is making Peizhai part of China’s beautiful countryside by promoting industry predominantly through green agriculture, thus achieving the three goals of increasing farmers' incomes, generating greener agricultural products, and ensuring food safety. Various cultural and education programs will go on to guide the villagers to further improve their life.

Third is leading more villagers in the Taihang mountains to prosperity. Peizhai, surrounded by hills on three sides, is located in a poverty-stricken area of Henan. Pei made donations towards reconstructing the village and building a reservoir. He also oversaw the development of efficient agriculture, industry and commerce. His efforts have enabled villagers to build houses, launch water-conservancy projects, and transform by the year 2016 a village with an average per-capita income of less than 1,000 yuan (US$150.3) into a new community with per-capita income of 13,000 yuan. Every villager found work and each household became a shareholder in these enterprises. 

In 2016, in response to the CPC Central Committee’s targeted poverty-alleviation campaign, Pei invested 80 million yuan (US$1.2 million) in the construction of Baoquan Garden community, aiming to relocate 1,798 poverty stricken people from 453 households in four poor villages in the Taihang mountains area, 60 kilometers from Peizhai. So far, 104 households have settled in the community. The project is expected to be completed in 2019.

Pei Chunliang, delegate to the 19th CPC National Congress and secretary of CPC Peizhai Village Committee in Zhangcun Township, Huixian City of Henan Province. [Photo by Zheng Liang, China.org.cn]