We are engaged on a long-term task

deputy head of the civil affairs bureau in Haicang district, Xiamen, Fujian province

Hong Yizhen,

In 2014, the city launched the “Beautiful Xiamen” strategic plan, which encourages community efforts to upgrade residential areas, similar to what has been happening in Taiwan for many years.

The district has an investment zone for businesspeople from Taiwan, so we decided to invite communitybuilding professionals to join our transformation project.

The district’s civil affairs bureau signed a contract with the Building and Planning Foundation at the National Taiwan University. The foundation sent Li Pei-chen, a rural planning expert, to guide the village transformation work in Haicang for eight months.

When her contract expired in August 2014, Li decided to stay and work as assistant to the village head because she felt there was more to do. Her contribution was extremely helpful, so in September 2017, we hired seven more people from Taiwan with experience of communitybuilding work.

The newcomers also performed well, so in January last year, we posted a job ad online offering another 35 positions — 278 people applied. We wanted people across a range of professional abilities, so community-building experience was no longer an essential requirement.

In April, a selection panel that included educational experts from Taiwan, scholars from the Chinese mainland, and the original assistants chose 45 candidates, who were invited to join a three-day tour of Xiamen.

On the afternoon of the last day, each candidate was required to give a three-minute presentation describing their feelings about the tour and their ideas for community or village work in the district. The presentation was really their interview. They were also required to write a 2,000-word article outlining their work plans if they were chosen.

Eventually, 35 people were selected. In July, they signed contracts with Xiamen Hai’an Services Co, a private company that provides services for the local government. As a result, every community or village in the district has an assistant from Taiwan.

Most of the assistants earn about 150,000 yuan ($22,314) a year, but those with experience in the field are paid more.

Members of the third group are younger and have had careers in various fields, including construction, education, health and volunteer work, as well as business. They combine their individual advantages with team work, and don’t just focus on the community or village they work in.

Building a community is a longterm task, and the workers are required to bring their experience to bear on the situation in the mainland communities. It can be tough, and by February, five had quit.

Hong Yizhen spoke with Zhang Yi and Hu Meidong.