New measures must be maintained Zhang Yuchen

The benefits from innovative ideas that connect an isolated community with the outside world will only remain if those ideas are part of a system.

Duringmy journey through the mountains to several isolated villages, the phrase “countryside government” kept flashing throughmy mind.

Most of the places I visited in Gansu province were far removed from the stereotypical image of the region in the country’s rural western areas: deprivation amid the vibrant reds and oranges of the local danxia landscape.

Rising prosperity was evident in the number of facilities under development in the province. I sawgenuine satisfaction in people’s smiles, even though many have concerns about the longevity of the recently introduced methods.

Measures have been taken to combat the evil of poverty, but what hasn’t changed is the way things are administered at the micro level.

YangWeizhong, an apple and peach grower I interviewed in a county close to Tianshui city, said his net earnings from online fruit tree reservations, whereby urban residents reserve all the fruit from one or a number of trees, can reach 50,000 yuan ($7,486) a year.

The reservation system was introduced by Bi Sheng, a deputy county leader whose nonrenewable two-year contract comes to an end in about three months.

There are no guarantees that the reservation system will be continued by Bi’s successor, which means Yang’s income may fall. The same is true of a range of initiatives introduced by 80 other deputy county leaders in the province.

In a modern society, people should not have to rely on individuals for permanent change. When innovative ideas or measures emerge that connect an isolated, impoverished community with the outside world, the benefits will only remain if those ideas are part of a designed mechanism or system.

If that were to happen, the newmeasures could make a major contribution to the sustainable alleviation of poverty.