Henan NPC deputy targets building a new rural area

A legislator from a rural area said that he will continue to help revitalize his rural community and build it into a place that integrates agricultural, industrial and commercial development on March 9.

Pei Chunliang, a deputy to China's ongoing second session of 13th National People's Congress from Central China's Henan province, who also is the Party chief of the Peizhai community, vowed to lead villagers into a new life by revitalizing the rural area.

When speaking about meeting with President Xi Jinping, who joined the discussion with the Henan delegation on March 8, Pei still felt excited and honored. "I will continue to work hard to revitalize our village and community and develop agriculture with modern technology," he said.

He was elected as head of Peizhai village in 2005, when it was only a village of less than 600 people with an annual per capita income of no more than 1,000 yuan ($148.81). In 2010, 11 administrative villages in Zhangcun town, including Peizhai, joined together to form the Peizhai community, with Pei as its Party branch secretary. In 2018, the community had a population of 11,800, and the annual per capita income reached 15,000 yuan.

Pei was elected as deputy to the 11th, 12th and 13th NPC meetings for leading villagers in the community in the hard work to achieve a better life. According to him, the Peizhai community is devoted to nurturing all-round development.

In agriculture, the community aims to achieve green agriculture and the more processing of agricultural products. For example, local cultivated sweet potatoes were processed as sweet potato noodles, which brought more income to villagers than selling fresh sweet potatoes only. Villagers in the community also utilized technology to plant morchella, a kind of rare wild fungus with an uneven pileus surface like goat or sheep tripe, which can bring an income of around 10,000 yuan per 0.06 hectares, according to Pei.

To help women in the community find work, and help them take care of their parents and children at home, the Peizhai community signed contracts with a clothing company in Zhengzhou, capital city of Henan, to build its factory in the community and trained these women as skilled workers.

Revitalizing rural areas calls for rural industrialization, and the clothing factory became Peizhai community's industry, said Pei, adding that a series of preferential policies from the central government helped the community make these achievements.

Pei said he expects more skilled agricultural talents will be dispatched to rural areas and more policies related to rural revitalization will be implemented this year.