Party chief lifts mountain village higher
Ex-soldier’s approach has sent average annual incomes soaring
A hard-nosed former soldier’s disciplined approach to village management is reaping dividends, despite initially earning him some detractors.
Zhoutaizi is nestled in the mountains of Chengde, Hebei province, about 160 kilometers northeast of Beijing.
Thanks in large part to Fan Zhenxi — who has been the village’s Party secretary for 31 years — residents are seeing steady improvements in their living conditions.
In 1987, Fan, then a 25-yearold accountant, was elected to the post to help turn around the village’s fortunes.
“Back then, the village had a total debt of 80,000 yuan ($12,490), and each resident’s annual income was less than 400 yuan, mainly coming from growing crops,” said Liu Dianhua, who worked with Fan from 1989 to 2009.
At that time, villagers could do almost anything they wanted, including felling forests and mining for minerals, which led to much conflict as there were few if any restrictions, Liu said.
Liu added that residents of Zhoutaizi elected Fan because he had four years of experience as a soldier, and they assumed his attributes of self-discipline and firmness would make him a good leader.
As soon as Fan assumed the post, he put in place new rules and regulations, encouraged residents to repay outstanding debts owed to the village and to each other, and put a halt to rampant deforestation.
But this was all easier said than done. During the process, resentment toward Fan grew among some villagers because his way of running affairs affected their shortterm interests.
“There were six times when people threw stones over the wall into my yard, and one time I was hit on the head,” Fan recalled. “But I wasn’t afraid because I believed that they would finally be happy when all of us were better off.”
After three months of hard work, debts were settled and a more orderly village began taking shape.
But Fan was not satisfied. He wanted to find ways to pull the villagers out of poverty and help them live more comfortable lives.
As the village was rich in natural resources — especially ores — Fan decided to make use of its natural endowments to develop a stronger local economy.
He banned private illegal mining operations as the natural resources technically belonged to the entire village. This meant he had to confiscate unauthorized mining assets and operations from private citizens — a laborious and unpopular process that actually started with his brother.
“He was angry with me for taking away his main income source, but if I didn’t start with him, others wouldn’t follow,” Fan explained.
One by one, ore mining operations were placed under village management.
The collective economy that relied heavily on ore mining lasted until 2014, when the annual gross value of production reached 300 million yuan and each villager’s average annual net income topped 10,000 yuan — 25 times that of 1987.
However, Fan was also endeavoring to reduce reliance on natural resources and promote other industries, as he believed both would be needed to ensure sustainable development.
Under Fan’s leadership, Zhoutaizi has formed several pillar industries, including modern agriculture and village tourism, and set up training programs for grassroots leaders.
The annual collective income of the village, which now has a population of about 2,300, has reached 20 million yuan, and each villager can get at least 18,000 yuan annually, either from dividends, material benefits or jobs created by the collective economy.
“As grassroots leaders, we should always try to actively figure out how to develop the collective economy to benefit villagers, and we can’t just sit around and wait for help from others,” Fan said.