CustomersbuyChineseperchatHuzhouWushiEco-AgricultureCo.Ltd.inZhiliinHuzhouCity,eastChina鈥檚ZhejiangProvince,onJune15,2017XINHUAVillagerslivinginthetownofZhiliinHuzhouCity,eastChina鈥檚ZhejiangProvince,haveseenmajorchangestakingplaceintheirhometowninrecentyears.Theskyandrivers,theysay,areclearer,andthelandgreenerthanbefore.
LuYunqi,SecretaryofthevillagebranchoftheCommunistPartyofChina(CPC)ofWupu,avillageunderthejurisdictionofZhili,haswitnessedchangesinitseconomicfortunesaswell.鈥淣owthereisnotasinglelow-incomefamilyinourvillage,鈥漢esaid.
AccordingtoLu,fewvillagersareinvolvedinagricultureinthevillagesofZhili,withmostoftheyoungandmiddle-agedpopulationworkinginbigcitieselsewhereintheprovinceoratlocalchildren鈥檚wearmanufacturingworkshops,whileseniorvillagersareengagedinaquacultureandtheprocessingofaquaticproducts,withanaverageannualincomeof40,000yuan($5,870)perperson.
AccordingtoYaoLianhua,DeputySecretaryoftheCPCZhiliTownshipCommittee,since2006,thetownhasacceleratedstepstofosterbeautifulvillages,especiallyundertheguidanceofPresidentXiJinping,whowastheSecretaryoftheCPCZhejiangProvincialCommitteewhenthedrivebegan.
鈥淲ehavemadeeffortsinthedevelopmentofindustriessuitedtolocalconditionsandfocusedonimprovingtheenvironmentsoastofurthercultivateapleasantcountrysideandenhancepeople鈥檚well-being,鈥漎aosaid.
Fishingindustry
LocatedonthesouthbankoftheTaihuLake,thethirdlargestfreshwaterlakeinChina,Zhilihasdevelopeditswater-relatedindustriesinrecentyears.Theareaishometomultiplefisheries,makingitanidealplaceforaquaculture.Thecrabsandshrimpsraisedonlocalaquaticfarmsareofpremiumqualityandpopularnationwide.
AccordingtoLu,sincethebeginningofreformandopeningupin1978,manyoftheresourcesinhisvillagehavebeensuccessfullyintegrated.Atfirst,thelandwenttowasteasvillagerschosetoinsteadearnalivinginthechildren鈥檚wearindustry,butlaterthearea鈥檚landresourceswereconsolidatedandreallocatedtofishfarmersforaquaculture.Yet,graduallylocalpeoplerealizedthattheycouldnotmakeseriousprofitsmerelythroughtraditionalfarming.Onlybyelevatingtheaddedvalueofproductsandexpandingtheirbusinessescouldtheyachieveasubstantialincreaseinrevenue.鈥淲eneededtomakeitbiggerinordertogeneratehigherprofits,鈥滾usaid.
WuRongfengfromthevillageofShanglinhasbenefitedfromthisshiftinpolicy.In2000,hecontracted1.2hectaresoffisherywithaproductionvalueof40,000yuan($5,870)andannualprofitsofover20,000yuan($2,935).Atthestart,heraisedonlythemostcommonfishandfedthemaquaticplantswithoutanyconsiderationofdietaryneedsoffish.However,thingsstartedtochangein2010asWubegantakingclassesatalocalagriculturalschool.Afterreceivingspecializedguidance,heraisedthelucrativeChineseperch.InMarch2011,heestablishedhisowneco-agriculturecompanyandregisteredatrademarkunderthenameYudage,whichliterallymeans鈥渂igbrotherfisherman鈥漣nChinese.
鈥淚n2014,wedevelopedamodelthatdoubledourannualproduction,andourprofitshavealsodoubledsincethen,鈥漌utoldChinAfrica.
Today,Wuemploysover20membersofstaff.Inadditiontoanannualincomeof50,000yuan($7,337),theemployeescanalsoearnanend-of-yearbonusbasedonthecompany鈥檚profits.DuringthepeakseasonfromJunetoSeptember,Wuhiresmorethan30temporaryworkers,usuallylocalvillagers.Wu鈥檚companyadoptsa鈥渃ooperativeplusfarmers鈥漨odel.Thereare53memberhouseholdsinthecooperative,withafisheryareaof366.67hectares.Thesehouseholdsalsobecameshareholdersofthecooperative.Morethan500otherhouseholdswithover2,660hectaresoffisherieshavealsobenefitedfromtheoperation.Lastyear,thecompany鈥檚revenueexceeded20millionyuan($2.94million),ofwhich2millionyuan($294,000)wasprofit.
Inadditiontoaquaculture,villagesinZhiliareexploringotherbusinessmodelsbasedontheirnaturaladvantages.Onesuchventureprovingparticularlysuccessfulistourism,whichallowsvillagerstoseeknewemploymentopportunitiesandevenstarttheirownbusinesses.Stay-at-homeretireeshavebecomewaitersandwaitressesathomestayhotels,earningaround3,000yuan($440)amonth,whileothervillagersrunrestaurantsservinglocalspecialties,whichhavebecomepopularamongtourists.
鈥淲ewanttojoinhandswithneighboringvillagesanddeveloptourismtogether.Inthenearfuture,wearegoingtobuildatouristareafocusingonlocalculture,鈥漎aosaid.
Abird鈥檚-eyeviewofvillagesinZhiliCOURTESYPHOTOImprovingenvironment
SongSongyuanistheformerheadofWupuVillageandhasbeenfightingawaragainstenvironmentaldeteriorationformanyyears.
In2007,alargebloomofblue-greenalgaeintheTaihuLakecausedthewaterqualitytodeterioratedrastically.ButSongdiscoveredthatcertaincrabseatthealgae,solvingtheprobleminWupuVillage.Thismethodisstillinusetodayforcleaningwaterwaysandhasbeenadoptedbyothervillagesnearby.
鈥淣owweareenjoyingahappylifeinabeautifulvillage,鈥漇ongsaid.TheZhiliGovernmenthasalsoworkedhardtoresolveotherwater-relatedissues.By2014,thetownhadcleanedupallpollutedriversinthearea.Twoyearslaterallpoultryfarmscameunderregulationforpollutioncontrol,andthisyearthetownhasbegunenvironmentalgovernanceintheaquacultureindustry.
鈥淭hisyear,weplantoproperlydealwith1,667hectaresofaquaculturewastewater,鈥漎aosaid.
In2014,Wubuilta2-square-kmgreenhouseandbegananaquaculturebusiness.Healsoinvested400,000yuan($58,680)anddesignedasetofwatertreatmentequipmentwhichcaneffectivelyfilterandcleanwastewater.
鈥淲eexpecttobeabletousethesamewaterforadecadeviathewater-recyclingsystem,鈥漌utoldChinAfrica.
In2017,healsoinstalledequipmentatotherfisheriesfortreatingwastewater,withatotalinvestmentof2millionyuan($293,500).Wusaidthatwithbetterwaterquality,fisharelesssusceptibletodiseasesandgrowfasterandhealthierthanbefore,whichinturnhasbroughthimhigherprofits.Inadditiontodealingwithwastewater,thetownisalsoseekingtoimprovethequalityofitsdrinkingwater.Inthepast,manyvillagerssourcedtheirdrinkingwaterfromthewatercourse,whichwasofaveragequalitybuttastedbad.Twoyearsago,thegovernmentlaunchedawaterimprovementprojectin13villages.Asaresult,boththequalityandtasteofthelocalwaterhavebeenimproved.
Thegovernmentplanstoinvestmorethan150millionyuan($22million)inimprovinglocalfacilitiestomeettheneedsofvillagers.Roadsaretoberenovated,moretreeswillbeplanted,andrecreationalcentersaretobebuilt.Yaosaid,however,thatruraldevelopmentisslowcomparedwiththeprogresstakingplaceincities.鈥淲ithsuchbiginvestment,wewanttomakesurethateveryvillagercanbenefitfrompublicutilitiesandenjoyacomfortableenvironment,鈥漢esaid.
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