QINYuefeiisavillagechiefinBaiyunVillageofHengshanCounty,HunanProvince.Whilehegoesabouthisworkquietly,Qinisanexampleofyouthinaction.
BorninChongqingin1985—theseventhyearafterChina’sreformandopening-up—hestartedtolearnEnglishattwo,wenttoYaleUniversityat20,anddevotedhimselftoaChinesevillageat26.Attheageof32,hewasselectedasoneofthe“10MostImpressivePeople”byChinaCentralTelevision.
Ayearbeforehereceivedtheaward,in2016,havingworkedinChina’spoorvillagesforfiveyears,Qincametotheconclusionthattoeffectpositivechanges,hehadtolookatchallengesthroughneweyes.Thereforethatyear,joinedbyafellowgraduatefromYale,heinitiatedanon-profitorganizationfortargetedpovertyalleviationcalledServeforChina(SFC).Itsaimwastowipeoutpovertythroughruralentrepreneurship.Astheschemedeveloped,sotoodidthenumberofpeoplewhoparticipated.
IvyLeagueVillageChief
It’shardtodistinguishQinfromotheryounglocalfarmers:thinandswarthy,wearingaT-shirtandcheapshoeswithtrouserlegsrolledup.Hegoesabouthisbusinesswithoutmuchfanfare.HisYaleclassmateswouldbedumbfoundedtoseehowtheformerlong-haired,rockbandmemberhadremodeledhisappearance.LocalchildrenseeQinasabigbrother.Backinthesummerof2005,QinheadedfortheUnitedStateswithafullscholarshipfromYale.Thatyear,theuniversityonlyenrolledfivestudentsfromChina.QinmajoredinpoliticsandeconomicsatYale,andwaspresidentofthestudentunionforChinesestudents.
Sixyearslater,inthesummerof2011,whentopuniversitygraduateswerefloodingintoChina’sfourfirst-tiercitiesforhigh-payingjobs,QinboardedatraintoHejiashanVillagewithaletterofadmittance.Hewastobeassistanttothevillagedirector.
ThefastdevelopmentofthecountrysidesincethestartofChina’sreformandopening-upputthecountryindesperateneedoftalent.In2008,a“collegestudentsbecomingvillagechiefs”programwaslaunchedcountrywideinabidtocultivatemanagerialpersonnelforthesocialistnewcountryside.Bytheendof2016,therewereatotalof100,000ormorecollegestudents-turnedvillagechiefsacrossChina.
Qin’svillageissurroundedbygreenmountains,andsummerstherearesweltering.Qinlikedtostrollaroundthevillagestreetswhenhehadtime,chattingwiththevillagerswhoweremostlyelderlyandchildren.Hehadthevillageplumbingandhouseroofsrepaired,helpedvillagerswiththeirapplicationforsubsidies,andwasalwaysonhandtoassistthoseinneed.
Duringhisthree-yearterminthevillage,Qinraisedfundstobuildirrigationcanals,installstreetlamps,buildnursinghomes,andmodernteachingfacilities.Heoftenburnedthemidnightoilthinkingofnewwaystoimprovethevillageinfrastructure.
OnOctober24,2012,QinwaselectedasadeputytothePeople’sCongressofHengshanCountyby3,027ofthe3,527votingvillagers.QinsaidtheelectionresultmadehimhappierthanwhenhegothisYaleadmission,asitshowsthetrustvillagershaveinhim.
Somepeoplethinkheisover-qualifiedtoworkthere.ButQinthinksdifferently,“Ifyouwanttogetaheadinlife,you’dbetterforgetaboutlabels.Ithinkweshouldneverforgetwherewecomefrom,andifIcanhelpordinarypeoplelikemyparents,thenI’mreallyhappy.”PovertyAlleviation:
PassingonSkills
Althoughthenewly-builtirrigationcanalsandroadswereabighelptoimprovequalityoflife,theydidnotimmediatelyhelpthevillagerstobecomebetter-off.ThisissomethingthatledQintorealizethattheonlywaytoreallylifttheimpoverishedvillageoutofpovertywastohavesustainabledevelopment.
“Theanswercouldnotbefoundonlyintheory,butthroughaction,”saidQinwiththeunderstandingthatpovertyreductionthroughruralentrepreneurshipwasthemosteffectivepathtotake.
Inthesummerof2014,aftercompletinghisfirstterm,Qinrefusedapromotionandappliedforanotherthree-yearterm,thistime,inBaiyunVillage,about30kmawayfromHejiashanVillage.
ThemountainsinBaiyunwerecoveredbycamelliatrees,knownfortheoilthatcanbeprocessedfromthetrees’seeds.Inthepast,theoilextractedbyhandwasnotpurifiedandsoldforRMB100(US$15)perhalfkg.Throughresearchandanalysis,Qinsetupanagriculturalcooperative,whichattractedmorethan40localhouseholds.Thecooperativeworkedwithprofessionalfoodtechnicianstoproducepurifiedediblecamelliaoil,whichwassoldforRMB200(US$30)forthesameamount.Inaddition,theoilwasusedtomanufactureskincareproductsandhairpomadeswhichallsoldwell.AllthosemadeagrossincomeofRMB120,000(US$17,500)inthefirstyear.QinYuefeivisitstheelderlyatanursinghomeofHejiashanVillageinHengshanCountyofCentralChina’sHunanProvince,whereheworks.Qinwasencouragedbytheresults,andwasnowtotallyconvincedthatlocalentrepreneurshipwasthekeytopovertyalleviationandruralreform.Whathedesperatelyneededatthattimewastofindlike-mindedpeopletoexpandtheprogram.
Inthesummerof2016,27collegegraduatesfromtopuniversitiessuchasHarvard,AustralianNationalUniversity,TsinghuaandFudan“settled”in15poverty-strickenvillagesinHunan,Jiangxi,Shandong,andGuangdongprovinces.
TheywerethefirstbatchofpovertyreductionstudentsofSFC.Duringtheirtwo-yearterm,theyhelpedlocalfarmerstosetupagriculturalcooperatives,anddevelopcompetitiveindustriesinplanting,breedingandhandicrafts.Afteroneyear’seffort,withmorethan10kindsofproducts,thelocalfarmersearnedoverRMB1million(US$145,000),andattractedaninvestmentofmorethanRMB8million(US$1.2million).
InQin’seyes,SFCwasbornfromthecountrysideandintegratedpolitical,social,andindustrialresources.Themodusoperandiofplacingtalentedpersonnelinpoverty-strickenareastohelpdeveloplocalcompetitiveindustriesinabidtoliftpeopleupfromunderthepovertylinewasawinningformula.“Whenthestudentsleave,theindustriescanhopefullycontinuetobenefitthelocals,”Qinsaid.
ToQin,thedevotionofyoungtalentstoruralrejuvenationisaninnovativeexampleofhowtodevelopChina’scountryside.Inretrospect,China’scountrysidewasthecradleofmanygreatideas.
Qin’sexperiencemadehimrealizethatthoughthemajorityofSFCprogramsfaredwell,therewerestillsomethatcouldnotbringanybenefitstothevillagersinasustainablefashion.Therefore,heintroducedanassessmentprogram.Thosethatpassedtheassessmentweresupportedwithfundsandresources,thosethatfailaresiftedout.
“Povertyreductionisresult-oriented.Ourgoalsarequiteclear:Aprogrammustempowerthepoorandhelpthemmakemoneyonanongoingbasis.”Allthereformsonthislandareaimedatpeoplelivingandworkinghere,hesaid.
OnaPromisingLand
Atthe2018“twosessions”heldinBeijing,asaNationalPeople’sCongressdeputy,Qinmadetwoproposals,oneontargetedpovertyalleviationandtheotheronruralrejuvenation.OntheHunandelegation’smediaopenday,Qinmentionedthatstrongorganizationandgoodleadershipwerecrucialtogoodgovernanceinthecountryside.Healsosuggestedthatasthecurrentleadersatthegrassrootslevelwereaging,newbodiesofagriculturaloperationsuchasagriculturalcooperativeswereestablishedtonurtureandtrainmanagementpersonnelforthecountryside.
Inhiseyes,thereisplentyofroominthecountrysideforyoungpeopletodeveloptheirskillstothefullest.Buttheproblemwasthatyoungtalentsdonotwanttoworkintheruralareasbecauseofpoorsalariesandlimitedcareerdevelopmentpaths.ForQinandhisSFC,thatwassomethingtheyaimtochange.
SFCprovidesavarietyofguaranteesforitsmembers.Theyareofferedfivesocialinsurancesandahousingfundbesidessalary.Besidesthat,SFCgetsinvestmentandsupportfromthegovernment.Thefirstbatchofparticipantswhoareabouttocompletetheirterms,eithergotrecommendedbySFCtofurthertheirstudyorgotdreamjoboffers.“Helpingfarmerstodevelopcompetitiveindustriesinturnhelptheseyoungtalentstofurtherthemselves,”Qinsaid,pointingoutthatthisisthetruedefinitionofwin-wincooperation.
Tocontinuecultivatinglocaltalent,Qinhascomeupwithagoodsolution.SFCwilluseitsmemberswhohavealreadysucceededinruralareastohelprecruityoungvillagerswhodidnotattendcollegetoworkasleadersindevelopingruralindustries.
InAugust2017,Qinfinishedhissecondtermasvillagechief.Again,herefusedapromotion.“Ilivedahappylifeinthepastsixyears.I’llcontinueworkinginthecountryside.That’swheremyvalueis,”hesaid.
Tohim,livingandworkingwiththevillagersgiveshimthechancetounderstandtheirpursuitofabetterlife.“Inthebeginning,itwashighidealsthatbroughtmehere.ButwhenIcame,IknewdeepinsidethatIchosetostayherenotformaterialgainorfamebutforthispromisinglandandthepeople.”
“Realidealistsarejudgedbywhattheydo,whichcanbeseeninChina’sdevelopmentinthepastfourdecades,”Qinsaid.InhisthirdtermQinYuefeiwillspendhistimeonanotherpovertystrickencounty,HuayuaninwesternHunanProvince.TherehewillworktogetherwithotherSFCmemberstohelpsetuplocalbusinesses.“SFCisanorganizationwhereourloftyidealsarebroughtdowntoearth.Wegotowhereweareneededthemostandgrowwithournation,”hesaid.
YANBING,CHAIYAXIN&HOUKEarejournalistsforPeople’sDailyoverseasedition.