Source: Xinhua Daily Telegraph
Henan’s innovative model, “poverty alleviation workshop” has gradually become an important carrier for rural revitalization and poverty alleviation
Workers at Wang Nan Handicraft Co., Ltd. in Taiqian County, Puyang City, Henan Province, inspect the paint of a photo frame (pictured on March 7). Xinhua News Agency (photo by Li Jianan)
In recent years, the market trend of industrial transfer has been keenly captured and skillfully used by the government, and the “poverty alleviation workshop” developed from Taiqian County in Henan Province is changing China’s rural production and lifestyle. With the “returning geese economy” to lead the direction of rural development, tap the demographic dividend from the rural left-behind personnel, and force technology to go to the countryside and capital to pour in. With the flow of talents, technology and capital to rural areas, the “poverty alleviation workshop” has gradually become an important carrier for rural revitalization and poverty alleviation.
Factors flow to rural areas to serve rural revitalization
10 years ago, Zhou Qingqiang and Zhang Chunhua were doing auto parts business outside, in 2008, they returned to their hometown Wukou Village, Houfang Township, Taician County, set up a small agricultural machinery generator workshop, by 2014, when Zhou Qingqiang urgently needed land to expand the scale, the Taiqian County Government helped Zhou Qingqiang solve the factory land according to the policy, and also provided government subsidized interest loans and bonus funds. Now, the company, which is located at the head of the village, has about 20 poor households working in the workshop all year round, and in 2017 helped eight people out of poverty.
In the process of helping a group of entrepreneurs like Zhou Qingqiang, the Taician County government realized that the model of labor-intensive enterprises driving the employment of poor people can be replicated, and Taician County has an industrial base such as down products processing and auto parts and photo frames. Therefore, Taiqian County guided industrial transfer and returned to his hometown to start a business through the “poverty alleviation workshop” model. Since May 2016, Taiqian County has built or expanded 124 “poverty alleviation workshops” in just two months, enabling them to rapidly exert poverty alleviation benefits.
Chang Qimin, secretary of the Taician County CPC Committee, said: “There will be more than 10 ‘poverty alleviation workshops’ in some villages with a good industrial foundation, which has fully tapped the rural demographic dividend, and the left-behind women and the elderly who can work have been activated, and entrepreneurs who have returned to their hometowns have been activated.”
Technology is the guarantee for sustainable development and an important means of rural revitalization. Li Jinming, director of the Puyang Poverty Alleviation Office in Henan Province, said: “The return of technical personnel is a gratifying phenomenon in the process of widely opening ‘poverty alleviation workshops’, and at the same time, the rural employed people absorbed have also mastered industrial skills through training, and with technology in the workshops, they will gradually create higher value.”
“Entrepreneurs are not empty, they are looking at the countryside.” Hou Zhaofang, director of the Human Resources and Social Security Bureau of Taiqian County, said that relying on the influx of a large amount of social capital and the tilt of various government funds, the “poverty alleviation workshop” has been in full swing.
Change rural production and life
The “poverty alleviation workshop” is not limited to one way of processing workshop, but also includes planting workshop, breeding workshop and other ways. Take Taician County, Qingfeng County and Fan County in Puyang City, Henan Province as examples: Taician County has a good foundation in auto parts, down and photo frame industries; Qingfeng County relies on the edible fungus industry to widely set up edible fungus greenhouses in rural areas; Fan County has a good foundation for lotus root industry. As long as it conforms to the local industrial base, enterprises have the intention to absorb rural labor, and the masses can find employment nearby, they can be guided through the “poverty alleviation workshop” model.
Li Fengtian, a 71-year-old villager in Zhaojia Village, Mazhuangqiao Town, Qingfeng County, Henan Province, transferred all 3.3 acres of her family’s land to the Zhaojiacun edible fungus base, and 1 acre of land can get 1,540 yuan a year in land transfer fees. A few years ago, Li Fengtian’s hand was accidentally injured, coupled with a bad waist, and his family’s economy was a little tight, and he was rated as a poor household. Li Fengtian said: “The land circulation fee is more than the income we used to earn from growing our own crops, and we can still earn 560 yuan a day by working here.” Not long ago, Li Fengtian’s family has successfully escaped poverty, his son and granddaughter are all working outside, and the family has just bought a car.
The “poverty alleviation workshop” is not only a shortcut to poverty alleviation, but also does not delay the maintenance of the family. Fan Chuang, a 23-year-old employee of the “poverty alleviation workshop” in Hutou Village, Shichuji Township, Shenqiu County, Henan Province, has been lifted out of poverty when he came to work in September 2016. “My father is sick, my brother is in school, I have to manage my own life events, I can’t go out to work, but I need a stable job, and the ‘poverty alleviation workshop’ is like tailor-made for me.” Fan Chuang said.
The “poverty alleviation workshop” should also be upgraded against the standard
The threshold of environmental protection should be strictly guarded, and safety accidents must be strictly prevented. In 2017, Puyang City, Henan Province, shut down 14 “poverty alleviation workshops” because of inadequate environmental impact assessments. Li Jinming said that the “poverty alleviation workshop” is started because of poverty alleviation, but it cannot “open an opening” because of poverty alleviation, and environmental impact assessment and fire protection must meet the standards.
Increasing the ability of independent innovation and strengthening brand building is the development direction of “poverty alleviation workshop”. Liu Gang, assistant researcher of Henan Academy of Social Sciences, pointed out that the “poverty alleviation workshop” is mostly processing incoming materials and single processing, lacking a complete industrial chain, and the core competitiveness of enterprises is not strong. “The final sales price of many OEM products is dozens of times higher than the factory price, and it is recommended that enterprises enhance the added value of products through brand building.” Liu Gang said.
Experts also reminded that “poverty alleviation workshops” cannot be built for the purpose of building “poverty alleviation workshops”, and only when there is a certain industrial foundation, enterprises need to expand their scale according to the market, need a large number of rural labor, and the rural people have the ability to undertake relevant industrial work.
Grassroots cadres also found that on the one hand, enterprises and “poverty alleviation workshops” have difficulty in recruiting workers, on the other hand, a large number of male family laborers have to go out to work to earn more, which puts forward higher requirements for enterprises and “poverty alleviation workshops”, and only by constantly upgrading can we provide more high-quality jobs for the masses. (Reporter Sun Zhiping, Wang Linyuan)