Grassroots delegate: Village head pushes forward livelihood projects

Editor's note: In the lead-up to the 19th Communist Party of the China National Congress, which begins on Oct 18, chinadaily.com.cn is focusing on delegates to the congress.

Twenty years ago, He Dexing became the Party secretary of Qiyi village in East China's Zhejiang province. He then launched reform programs.

He introduced two steps. The first was to communalize lands, ponds and mountains of the whole village, with all the residents becoming stakeholders of the public property.

The second was to establish comprehensive markets and street stores. The collective income of Qiyi village reached 500 million yuan a year ($75.5 million) in 2016 thanks to these two initiatives.

Considering the villagers' poor living conditions and limited availability of land, He started pushing forward the renovation of the old village in 2002.

At the beginning, villagers questioned the renovation plan. The cadres of the village Party committee promised to prioritize renovation of 90 percent of villagers' houses.

He's father had always wanted to live in a new house. But his wish remained unfulfilled because He was focused on satisfying the public demand.

He also promoted the large-scale management of fertile farmland to maximize the economic benefits.

Under the guidance of He, the added value of reconstructed houses and rental incomes raised the annual net income of villagers to 48,000 yuan in 2017.

The total amount of yearly bonus for villagers has reached 1.8 million yuan in 2017, with an accumulative 30 million yuan until now. The village Party committee has also paid 50 million yuan for hospitalization and endowment insurances.

To fulfill the spiritual needs of villagers, He Dexing led the construction of the cultural square, library, courts and playrooms. Elderly chorus and square dancing have also enriched public life.

The agricultural ecological district at Qiyi village opened on July 1. The comprehensive ecological district possesses the functions of leisure tourism, production of agricultural goods, flower tourism and wetland ecology.

The ecological district, with a 60 million investment, has spurred the economic development in surrounding areas and increased the added value of agriculture.

For his contribution in improving the villagers' livelihoods, He Dexing was honored as a national model worker and was elected as a delegate to the 19th National Congress for the Communist Party of China.