Making the trek to modernization

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-23 20:00

Through efforts by the Zunyi government and local residents, the countryside has taken on a new look in recent years.

Farming terraces near the famed city in south China

Zunyi, the famed revolutionary base in southwest China's Guizhou province, has begun a campaign to increase the income of rural residents, improve infrastructure and modernize services.

Construction on rural projects in the first six months encompassed 232 counties and townships and 1,300 villages while benefiting 3.1 million residents.

It is part of an effort by the Zunyi government to improve the city's industrial structure and enhance the livelihood of locals that began eight years ago.

In 2003, the Guizhou provincial government held a series of meetings to formulate plans for growth and improvement, resulting in selection of the city as a model for construction of the new socialist countryside.

Senior official of the Communist Party of China Li Changchun visited the city in 2003 and ordered the province to take the project as a key to success in modernization.

In 2006, 11 national media outlets went to Zunyi to cover the campaign and publicized efforts to increase farmers' income.

They noted that towns and villages have seen their tea, herbs, bamboo, pepper, tobacco and vegetable production improve while residences have been turned into home stay hotels and nearly 1,000 scenic spots have been set up.

Today 94 percent of villages in the city have modern roads and 1,300 have tap water.

The power network has been improved and the telecommunications now cover more than 90 percent of the villages. As well, 40,000 new rural homes have been built.

Infrastructure construction has created 100,000 job opportunities for local farmers.

Service sectors have registered robust growth while sales of household electronic goods and furniture are on the rise in Zunyi.

As well, 333,000 people out of 145,000 families have received social welfare subsidies from the government.

A total of 5.55 million people joined rural healthcare program, covering 93.6 percent of the total population.

Radio and TV signals now reach 85 percent of villages, and 4,530 remote education stations have been set up.

Through the campaign, more villagers have adopted a cultured lifestyle and developed a thirst for knowledge. Increasing numbers have legal knowledge and social and occupational ethnics.