Reform Achievements Shared

By+staff+reporter+ZHOU+LIN

THE small village of Yonglian has transformed over the past 40 years from a barren mud flat too insignificant to appear on the Jiangsu Province map to a national culturally-developed village. In 2013， the total village revenue stood at RMB 110 million， and local residentsper capita net income at RMB 32，937. Yonglian villagers enjoy a life of peace and prosperity.

Yangtze River Shoal Dwellings

Senior citizen Zhang Yuqin came to live in Yonglian Village in the 1970s. At that time it was known as Brigade 23 of Nanfeng Commune in Shazhou County. It was also named Polder 70， in reference to the embankments， or dykes， that enclosed this low-lying tract and protected its arable land from external inflows of water.

Wasteland along the Yangtze River at that time was low-lying and uneven. Wheat planted there grew no taller than one centimeter high. Zhang， her husband and three sons subsisted there in a three-roomed ramshackle， thatched cottage. She shudders at the memory of those cold， hungry days.

When， on July 28， 1978， Wu Dongcai became village Party secretary， residents per capita income was just RMB 68， and the village owed a collective debt of around RMB 50，000.

However， against all expectations， during the first year of his tenure Wu encouraged villagers to follow his example by rolling up their sleeves to dig up the 57，500 tons of earth necessary to excavate a 3.3-hectare fishpond. The task took 39 days. Thanks to fish fry bought with a loan from the Nanfeng Town Supply and Marketing Cooperative， in the year that followed the fish pond brought them more than RMB 8，000.

Having dug their first “pot of gold，”Wu decided to allocate two and a half kg of fish to each household.

Zhang Yuqins face glows as she recalls that day. “Everyone was delighted. We all gave a portion of our fish to rela- tives and friends. From that time on our village was no longer regarded as an impoverished village.”

The word for fish in Chinese has the same pronunciation as that for superabandunce. Eating fish thus also means welcoming years of affluence， or having in excess of what is needed to survive each year. This success enabled farmers to enjoy an abundant harvest， and revealed to Wu the essence of rural governance.

“In the past， Yonglian villagers had bickered constantly. Neither officials nor residents tried to solve problems through mediation， never mind development. Wed come from all corners of the country. Lacking any sense of cooperation， we were like a heap of loose sand. This made it almost impossible to drum up a joint effort，” Wu explained. Wu could see that the successful fish farming venture had generated sufficient solidarity to work towards further development.endprint

In the spring of 1980 the central government took the decision to give names to all natural villages. Wu raised with village officials the possibility of naming their home “Yonglian，” meaning“Forever United.” He hoped to “create an everlasting undertaking and unite people from all corners of the country.”Yonglian Village was thus established. Along with 600，000 or more administrative villages， it on the map of China.

Under Wu Dongcais leadership， by 1981 Yonglian Village had paid off all of its debts.

“Secretary Wu would ride his bicycle through the village， day and night. He oversaw the successive construction of several small plants， including a textile plant， jade plant， wicker plant， and cement plant，” Zhang Yuqin recalled. But Wu had greater plans still for Yonglian.

Village Rolling Mill

As villagers lives gradually became more prosperous， Wu Dongcai came up with the idea of building a rolling mill.

When Zhang Yuqin asked Wu， “How can we run a rolling mill when we have no money or experience？” His confident reply was， “Dont worry！ We can take out a bank loan.”

Spring of 1984 saw the issue of the first official document that included the term “township enterprises.” To Wu this signified the time for an all-out effort.

Wu was actually more sensitive to the market than to policy. By 1983， most places in rural Jiangsu Province had developed dramatically. The three main indicators of family wealth had progressed from the “old big three items” of watch， radio， and bicycle to the “new three big items” – television， refrigerator， and electric lighting.

In the affluent district of Changshu in Jiangsu Province， construction of twostory buildings， each covering an area of 150-plus square meters， usually with three rooms upstairs and three rooms downstairs， was becoming commonplace. Wu spotted in this trend the huge potential market for steel construction materials.

After taking delivery of production equipment over a 20-day period， on April 20， 1984 construction of the Yonglian Rolling Mill began. The mill went into trial production on August 20 of the same year.

Qian Xing， Zhang Yuqins eldest son， was at that time doing an apprenticeship outside the village. He earned barely enough to live on， let alone consider marriage. When construction of the rolling mill finished， Zhang urged him to come back. Qian made RMB 300 during the first month.

Zhangs second son also benefitted from this development. At first reluctant to be a steel worker， he went to Shandong Province to work as a house painter. But this naive village boy was swindled out of his earnings， and returned home penniless. At that time， most young men of his age had long since worked at the steel mill. New workers were required to pay RMB 3，000 for tools and training. As this was far beyond the financial capacity of Zhangs family， she turned to Wu for help. “Secretary Wu asked me to wait for news， and the next day we went to the factory. My son received a set of tools for free and has worked at the factory ever since，” Zhang said.endprint

In 1985， Yonglian Rolling Mill achieved a 60 million-ton output at a value of more than RMB 10 million， and net profits of RMB 1.56 million. The same year， Yonglian Village finally shook off poverty and became one of the top ten “10 million-yuan villages” in the Zhang-jiagang City environs.

The speeches Deng Xiaoping made in 1992 during his tour of southern China stressed the importance of economic reform and criticized those who were against further reform and opening-up. Wu entered Dengs spirit and began to think about building the socialist new countryside.

The rolling mill achieved leapfrog development with two brand new programs introduced by Wu. It took just 86 days to establish the biggest transformer station in rural China and to then equip the rolling mill with high-voltage electricity. In 1993， the small steel mill was transitioned into the Yonggang Group Co.， Ltd.

In 1994， Wu decided to introduce a 650 cogging-down rolling production line. He invited a professional in the field and appointed him chief engineer of the Yonggang Group. The initiative proved a huge success， and the factory won the East China Metal Association first award. To guarantee product quality， the Yonggang Group set up a complete quality control system and established 84 quality records. This dramatically improved plant efficiency and accelerated the already rapid pace of development.

In response to the call for “affluent villages to help impoverished ones and realize common prosperity，” in 1995 Wu merged the villages surrounding Yonglian. He thus expanded its overall scale almost 10-fold， so strengthening the Yonggang Group.

There is always RMB 20，000 in Zhang Yuqins family bank account. She explained， “This was the sum assigned to us in 1995.” When Yonglian merged with its surrounding villages， the residents concerned were worried that their incomes might be affected. Secretary Wu withstood this pressure by offering RMB 10，000 to each former resident， so promising an even brighter future for the new Yonglian.

Yonglian Village has since experienced five consecutive mergers， under the principle that “once you join the big Yonglian Village family， you become indispensable to it and so enjoy the same treatment.”

“Thanks to Secretary Wu， both old villagers and newcomers unite in the common quest for Yonglians development. I will keep this money forever as a reminder of Secretary Wus vision，”Zhang Yuqin said.endprint

Stake in the Village Collective

At the end of 2002， Yonggang Groups total assets had surpassed RMB 2 billion， more than 7，000 times that of a decade ago.

In accordance with the policy of asset restructuring， all 3，000-plus township enterprises in Zhangjiagang City changed from state-owned and collective com- panies to private ones. The Yonggang Group became the focus of reform for companies in southern Jiangsu Province.

Wu Dongcai， then chairman of Yonggang Group， astounded the CCTV journalist when he declared， “Without restructuring， lack of vitality among enterprises could result in the loss of talented engineers. But if we were to transfer all shares to private owners， what would the common people live on？ They would understandably object to having sacrificed farmland through which to earn large sums in which they have no share. As Party secretary， it is my duty to help all villagers achieve a well-off life. To do otherwise would be contrary to the communist cause.”

At the general assembly of all stakeholders， Wu insisted， “I will contribute half of my shares – a 12.5 percent holding – to the village collective， and also my elder sons 6 percent holding.”

In the end 25 percent of shares were reserved for the village collective.

In 2007， the added value of the collective ownership of Yonglian Village stood at more than RMB 400 million， and its disposable income at more than RMB 80 million.

Yonglian Village has built up Yonglian Community and Yongnan Community， and invested RMB 1.5 million in the construction of Gangcun Residential Compound， covering 500，000 square meters. It can accommodate 10，000 or more residents in 3，200 households. When completed， all villagers can live in apartments and enjoy community facilities， such as entertainment， fitness training， and shopping services. There are also free libraries， auditoriums， gyms， dance halls， and chess rooms.

Zhang Yuqin and her husband have moved into their new home， a 140-plus square meter apartment with three bedrooms， two living rooms， two bathrooms and double balconies. Their three sons also have their respective apartments in the community.

“Thanks to Secretary Wu， we now appreciate the beauty of life. Senior citizens are encouraged to surf the web， and my husband and I have received a RMB 2，000 reward for our on-line diligence. Life is grand！” Zhang said.endprint