Mountains of Gold and Silver

By Ji Jing

President Xi Jinpings visit to Yucun in Zhejiang Province， east China， on March 30 held special significance for him， for the former mining village and for environmental protection efforts in China. It was there 15 years ago that as secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China（CPC）， Xi put forward the concept that “clear waters and green mountains are as valuable as mountains of gold and silver.” The concept has become a motto for Chinas green development and ecological civilization today.

Green development

Fifteen years ago， Yucun was known for its limestone. Back then， over half of the nearly 200 households worked in quarries， earning around 1，000 yuan （$142） per person per month on average. The fi rst limestone mine was opened in the village in 1977. By the end of the 1990s， the once impoverished village had become a well-known industrial center with an annual per-capita income of 3，000 yuan （$434）， close to that in the provincial capital Hangzhou.

However， the source of prosperity also brought problems. Bao Xinmin， Party Secretary of Yucun， told China Global Television Network， “Mines were like gold and silver mountains then. [As a result of heavy mining] our water and mountains became heavily polluted.” The mountains were scarred by enormous mine pits， the water and air were polluted with the discharge from mining and there were frequent accidents in the pits. As one villager said， they stopped listening to the weather forecasts because all days were gloomy and dark with the ensuing pollution.

In 2003， the CPC Zhejiang Committee proposed a series of development strategies， including lessening dependence on mining and strengthening ecological preservation. By the end of the year， a cement plant that had been running in the village for 18 years was closed and in the following two years， three more mines were shut down.

Zhejiang launched a rural clean-up campaign to improve the environment and peoples living standards in rural areas. The project sought to develop 1，000 villages into demonstration villages exemplifying a moderately prosperous society in all respects and 10，000 villages were asked to clean their rivers and address the rampant use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

By 2018， two years before Xis revisit， the mountains in the village had become lush green and the sky blue. Zhejiangs Green Rural Revival Program was among the recipients of the UNs Champions of the Earth Award in 2018 for “the transformation of a once heavily polluted area of rivers and streams，” showing “the transformative power of economic and environmental development together.”

The village began to help people affected by the mine closure to improve their livelihoods. Pan Chunlins was a typical case. The tractor driver lost his job after the mines were closed. Indeed， the villages collective annual income dropped from 3 million yuan （$426，000） to less than 300，000 yuan（$42，600） and sustaining peoples livelihood became a pressing issue. In 2005， the village committee decided to develop rural tourism， although the villagers had doubts about the approach.

Pan opened a homestay. To everyones amazement， he earned over 100，000 yuan （$14，200） in the first year. Now he has expanded his business portfolio from a homestay to hostels， two restaurants and a tourism agency， becoming a millionaire.

A large number of locals started small factories making sheets and chopsticks from bamboo， which is abundant in the village. Initially， chemical pesticides and fertilizers were used to grow more bamboo. Then the local government stepped in， banned their use and instead encouraged the use of organic fertilizers to protect the environment and ensure that the bamboo shoots were healthy and of a higher quality.

Over the past 15 years， people in the village have planted many trees on the mountains， turning the scarred slopes green again. Green development has also been boosted with white tea farms， rural tourism and ecotourism.

An abandoned quarry has been transformed into a mine heritage park while the closed cement factory has been turned into a scenic spot. “We posted photographs of the villages mountains and rivers online and they became popular. We have benefited from the good environment，” Pan told Beijing-based Science and Technology Daily.

In 2019， the village received 900，000 tourists and earned a revenue of 279.6 million yuan（$39.7 million）. Its per-capita income increased from 8，732 yuan （$1，240） in 2005 to 49，598 yuan （$7，042） in 2019. The villagers cottages have been refurbished into spacious houses and every household has a car.

“The ecological environment itself is the economy. All ecological protection efforts will be rewarded，” Xi said during his recent visit.

Innovation-driven growth

The beautiful environment in Anji， the county where Yucun lies， attracts not only tourists but also college graduates to return and start their own businesses. Bian Yueming is one of them. He came back to the county to grow grapes， introducing improved planting techniques and starting a rural cooperative to grow high-end varieties. They have been earning high revenue.

In addition to high-end agriculture， Anji has also become an incubator for science and innovation. One biotech company located there， Zhejiang Orient Gene Biotech， created headlines during the novel coronavirus outbreak by developing a test kit.

Zhu Jiasheng， Deputy Director of the Anji Science and Technology Bureau， told Science and Technology Daily that the county has turned away industries that cause high pollution and consume a lot of energy； instead it has wooed science and innovationdriven industries through policy innovation and service improvement. Zhu also said Anjis development has proved that ecological preservation and economic development are not contradictory. Anji has driven its development with science and technology， without trading off its environment， ecology and natural resources.