Minning’s “relocation village” model could be replicated across China
By Yang Xiaoxiao
Original, GPIG, 05-21-2018
Yuanlong Village is located in the north of Minning Town, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. Its villagers were relocated from 13 towns in Yuanzhou District of Guyuan City and Longde County, and it has became the largest “relocation village” in Yongning. [Photo by Yang Xiaoxiao]
During a poverty alleviation cooperation conference held by the State Council in May, 1996, ten prosperous eastern provinces were paired with ten less-developed regions in western China to provide economic assistance. It was at this time that the eastern Fujian Province was appointed the responsibility of aiding the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in northwestern China. In October that year, a group led by Chinese President Xi Jinping, then Fujian deputy party chief, was established to lead efforts. As a result, Minning Town was established.
Minning is located in Ningxia’s Yongning County. The first half of its name, Min, refers to Fujian, while Ning stands for Ningxia. It administers six villages, and some 60,000 people have moved from Ningxia’s remote mountainous areas to Minning, where they had new homes and job opportunities. Most found work in new businesses that were established with investment from Fujian, while others worked in cities.
Businesses ranged from agriculture and livestock to real estate, wine production, and the tar and gas industry. According to Nxnews.net, a Ningxia-based news outlet, in the town, per capita disposable income of farmers has risen from 500 yuan (U.S. $80) in 1997 to 10,732 yuan (U.S. $1,600) in 2016.
On a 2016 trip to Minning, President Xi Jinping said that the area has been transformed from a desert to a paradise, and that its experience should be promoted across China.
Located in northern Minning, Yuanlong is the largest of the “relocation villages” in Yongning County, whose populations are made up of communities from nearby areas, namely from 13 towns in Yuanzhou District of Guyuan City and Longde County. In the village, one can see rows of homes and greenhouses covered with solar panels, as well as raspberry and grape plantations.
Design and construction of the village began in 2010, and people started to move in in May 2012, according to Wang Sheng, party secretary of Yuanlong. As of September of 2016, a total of 1,998 households, representing over 10,500 people, were brought in.
President Xi’s visit to the village
A photo with President Xi hangs on the wall of Hai Guobao’s living room. Hai’s home has become the local “star household” after President Xi paid a visit during an inspection tour in Yuanlong. [Photo by Yang Xiaoxiao]
Hai Guobao is one of the first batch of migrants to arrive in Yuanlong. In July 2016, during his inspection tour in Minning, President Xi visited Hai’s family, which made it the “star household” in the village.
“I can’t believe that President Xi visited my home, it was still like a dream,” said Hai. “I can still remember every word he said to me.”
Before the relocation, Hai made a living by farming in Ningxia’s Kaicheng Town.
“We earned very little before, more or less 2,900 yuan (U.S. $400) a year,” he said. “Since the relocation in 2012, it’s risen to 4,000 yuan (U.S. $600).”
Last year, Hai’s son found work in a winery earning a salary of 4,500 yuan (U.S. $700), while his daughter-in-law became a cook and brought home 2,500 yuan (U.S. $400) a month. On average, each of his seven family members can earn 1,000 yuan (U.S. $150) a month, Hai said.
To Hai, villagers became more proactive after the migration, and a sense of competition gradually developed.
“Before, all villagers depended on weather for food,” Hai said. “Plants would grow even you didn’t take care of them after sowing. But things changed. Now, you will be left behind if you do not work.”
Hai sees education as the biggest change after his relocation. When residents were living in the mountains, students needed to walk for up to four kilometers to school. Now, schools were closer to residences and children could access kindergarten at 4 years old and elementary school at 8 or 9.
“I am illiterate, my son is semiliterate,” said Hai. “I told my grandson to study hard to get into university.”
Five channels to fight poverty
According to Wang, most villagers in Yuanlong work in local companies that fall into one of five categories, namely labor export, vineyards, raspberry farms, “photovoltaic agriculture” (a merging of solar power generation and greenhouses), and cattle breeding. Meanwhile, villagers also make extra income renting out their land.
In April 2015, Ningxia Qinghe Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Technology Development Co. LTD, a local agricultural company, came to Yuanlong. It rented 445 acres of land from villagers, and established the “Penghuwan Raspberry Ecological Scenic Area,” which combines raspberry planting with health services. Currently, Qinghe employs more than 900 people with an average salary of 18,000 yuan (U.S. $2,700) a year.
In 2014, Qingdao New Energy Solutions Inc., a Chinese solar panel manufacturer, implemented a greenhouse project in Yuanlong. These greenhouses not only produce agricultural products, but also generate electricity via solar panels on their roofs.
Covering an area of 206 acres, the first phase of project has so far constructed 588 such greenhouses with a total generating capacity of 30MW. By renting their land to Qingdao, each of the 415 impoverished households receives 1,500 yuan (U.S. $230) a year. Furthermore, it employs more than 200 local farmers at 25,000 yuan (U.S. $3,800) a year.
Yitai Animal Husbandry Co. LTD, where Hai’s daughter-in-law works, has its own subsidy model. Poor households buy subsidized cattle from the government, and then Yitai helps them raise the cattle and shares the dividends from the sale of meat.
Yitai is currently helping 1,537 impoverished households in Minning raise 3,074 cattle and distributes 6.15 million yuan (U.S. $933,600) in dividends a year. In 2016, it helped raise four cattle for each of the 70 impoverished households in Yuanlong and distributed an 8,000 yuan (U.S. $1,200) dividend to each. Meanwhile, the company employs some 80 villagers with an annual salary of 22,000 yuan (U.S. $3,340).
During his visit in July 2016, nearly two decades since his first trip, Xi stressed it was imperative that no Chinese citizen is left behind, regardless of geography or ethnic group. The Chinese government aims to build a “moderately prosperous society” with a strong middle class by lifting some 55 million people out of poverty by 2020.
The article was translated by Jin Ling and its original unabridged version was published in Chinese.
By Yang Xiaoxiao
Original, GPIG, 05-21-2018
Yuanlong Village is located in the north of Minning Town, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. Its villagers were relocated from 13 towns in Yuanzhou District of Guyuan City and Longde County, and it has became the largest “relocation village” in Yongning. [Photo by Yang Xiaoxiao]
During a poverty alleviation cooperation conference held by the State Council in May, 1996, ten prosperous eastern provinces were paired with ten less-developed regions in western China to provide economic assistance. It was at this time that the eastern Fujian Province was appointed the responsibility of aiding the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in northwestern China. In October that year, a group led by Chinese President Xi Jinping, then Fujian deputy party chief, was established to lead efforts. As a result, Minning Town was established.
Minning is located in Ningxia’s Yongning County. The first half of its name, Min, refers to Fujian, while Ning stands for Ningxia. It administers six villages, and some 60,000 people have moved from Ningxia’s remote mountainous areas to Minning, where they had new homes and job opportunities. Most found work in new businesses that were established with investment from Fujian, while others worked in cities.
Businesses ranged from agriculture and livestock to real estate, wine production, and the tar and gas industry. According to Nxnews.net, a Ningxia-based news outlet, in the town, per capita disposable income of farmers has risen from 500 yuan (U.S. $80) in 1997 to 10,732 yuan (U.S. $1,600) in 2016.
On a 2016 trip to Minning, President Xi Jinping said that the area has been transformed from a desert to a paradise, and that its experience should be promoted across China.
Located in northern Minning, Yuanlong is the largest of the “relocation villages” in Yongning County, whose populations are made up of communities from nearby areas, namely from 13 towns in Yuanzhou District of Guyuan City and Longde County. In the village, one can see rows of homes and greenhouses covered with solar panels, as well as raspberry and grape plantations.
Design and construction of the village began in 2010, and people started to move in in May 2012, according to Wang Sheng, party secretary of Yuanlong. As of September of 2016, a total of 1,998 households, representing over 10,500 people, were brought in.
President Xi’s visit to the village
A photo with President Xi hangs on the wall of Hai Guobao’s living room. Hai’s home has become the local “star household” after President Xi paid a visit during an inspection tour in Yuanlong. [Photo by Yang Xiaoxiao]
Hai Guobao is one of the first batch of migrants to arrive in Yuanlong. In July 2016, during his inspection tour in Minning, President Xi visited Hai’s family, which made it the “star household” in the village.
“I can’t believe that President Xi visited my home, it was still like a dream,” said Hai. “I can still remember every word he said to me.”
Before the relocation, Hai made a living by farming in Ningxia’s Kaicheng Town.
“We earned very little before, more or less 2,900 yuan (U.S. $400) a year,” he said. “Since the relocation in 2012, it’s risen to 4,000 yuan (U.S. $600).”
Last year, Hai’s son found work in a winery earning a salary of 4,500 yuan (U.S. $700), while his daughter-in-law became a cook and brought home 2,500 yuan (U.S. $400) a month. On average, each of his seven family members can earn 1,000 yuan (U.S. $150) a month, Hai said.
To Hai, villagers became more proactive after the migration, and a sense of competition gradually developed.
“Before, all villagers depended on weather for food,” Hai said. “Plants would grow even you didn’t take care of them after sowing. But things changed. Now, you will be left behind if you do not work.”
Hai sees education as the biggest change after his relocation. When residents were living in the mountains, students needed to walk for up to four kilometers to school. Now, schools were closer to residences and children could access kindergarten at 4 years old and elementary school at 8 or 9.
“I am illiterate, my son is semiliterate,” said Hai. “I told my grandson to study hard to get into university.”
Five channels to fight poverty
According to Wang, most villagers in Yuanlong work in local companies that fall into one of five categories, namely labor export, vineyards, raspberry farms, “photovoltaic agriculture” (a merging of solar power generation and greenhouses), and cattle breeding. Meanwhile, villagers also make extra income renting out their land.
In April 2015, Ningxia Qinghe Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Technology Development Co. LTD, a local agricultural company, came to Yuanlong. It rented 445 acres of land from villagers, and established the “Penghuwan Raspberry Ecological Scenic Area,” which combines raspberry planting with health services. Currently, Qinghe employs more than 900 people with an average salary of 18,000 yuan (U.S. $2,700) a year.
In 2014, Qingdao New Energy Solutions Inc., a Chinese solar panel manufacturer, implemented a greenhouse project in Yuanlong. These greenhouses not only produce agricultural products, but also generate electricity via solar panels on their roofs.
Covering an area of 206 acres, the first phase of project has so far constructed 588 such greenhouses with a total generating capacity of 30MW. By renting their land to Qingdao, each of the 415 impoverished households receives 1,500 yuan (U.S. $230) a year. Furthermore, it employs more than 200 local farmers at 25,000 yuan (U.S. $3,800) a year.
Yitai Animal Husbandry Co. LTD, where Hai’s daughter-in-law works, has its own subsidy model. Poor households buy subsidized cattle from the government, and then Yitai helps them raise the cattle and shares the dividends from the sale of meat.
Yitai is currently helping 1,537 impoverished households in Minning raise 3,074 cattle and distributes 6.15 million yuan (U.S. $933,600) in dividends a year. In 2016, it helped raise four cattle for each of the 70 impoverished households in Yuanlong and distributed an 8,000 yuan (U.S. $1,200) dividend to each. Meanwhile, the company employs some 80 villagers with an annual salary of 22,000 yuan (U.S. $3,340).
During his visit in July 2016, nearly two decades since his first trip, Xi stressed it was imperative that no Chinese citizen is left behind, regardless of geography or ethnic group. The Chinese government aims to build a “moderately prosperous society” with a strong middle class by lifting some 55 million people out of poverty by 2020.
The article was translated by Jin Ling and its original unabridged version was published in Chinese.
