A Further Push
China continues to make efforts in rural and agricultural development
Kou Hongyan was laid off from a factory in Beijing 14 years ago. At the time she could hardly imagine that one day she would become a pioneer leading her fellow townspeople in Beijing’s western suburbs to shake off poverty and become prosperous.
In her early 40s, Kou had no idea what to do after losing her job in 2005. But her enterprising spirit pushed her to move forward and after serious consideration, she went back to her hometown in Zhaitang Town in Mentougou District and started a rural homestay business with five friends.
In spite of difficulties along the road, her business stabilized and in 2007, Kou established a cooperative to enable more local people to join the business and earn a share. Now there are over 300 people in the cooperative, and the business has expanded to neighboring towns where more farmers reap the benefits.
“Thanks to the country’s development and national policy support, farmers like me can make full use of rural resources which were not utilized for years, and find ways to make our lives better, as long as we are willing to put in hard work,” she told Beijing Review.
Meeting farmers’ needs
Kou is among numerous Chinese farmers who have experienced a transformation. Rural areas and farmers have always been central to the work agenda of the Chinese Government since they directly concern the nation’s stability and people’s well-being.
In 2018, new achievements were made in rural and agricultural development with a good grain harvest and a good start on rural vitalization, said President Xi Jinping at the Central Rural Work Conference held in Beijing on December 28-29, 2018. The conference planned the country’s work related to agriculture, rural areas and rural people.
National food security and an effective supply of important agricultural products were also among 2018’s rural undertakings.
Great strides were made in China’s poverty alleviation efforts in 2018. According to official statistics, 125 poor counties and 10 million poverty-stricken rural residents were lifted out of poverty. In 2019, the country is expected to see over 10 million rural residents lifted out of poverty as planned.
“Agriculture shouldn’t be a backward industry. Instead, it should be an industry that integrates the technological economy, politics and national security. Rural areas should not be synonymous with poverty and underdevelopment. Rather, they should represent picturesque places full of hope where people live and work in peace and contentment,” Zhu Xinkai, Vice President of Renmin University of China and deputy head of the Chinese Agricultural Economics Association, told Xinhua.
“What we now face is a contradiction between unbalanced and inadequate development and people’s ever-growing needs for a better life,” Xi’s report to the 19th Communist Party of China (CPC) National Congress in October 2017 said.
“Now we are at a juncture to transition