We all wear socks. But, how many pairs do we go through in a year?
This little question never occurs to most of us, but for the people
in Datang, a small town in Zhuji in east China's
Zhejiang
Province, it is of the utmost importance.
Situated in the center of Zhejiang, Datang has a population of
23,000 and 20,700 of them are farmers. But one out of every two
households there earns money by making socks, with 90 percent of
the farmers' income coming from making socks.
Local statistics indicate the average consumer in the United States
goes through about 30 pairs of socks a year, Hong Kong residents,
about 10 pairs, Chinese who live on the east coast of the mainland
of China, four to six pairs, while those who live in the country's
western regions manage on one pair of socks a year.
This simple answer to that simple question is well known to the
people of Datang, and it has given them great confidence.
Every year, Datang manufactures about 8 billion pairs of socks of
all kinds, more than enough to provide the whole world with one
pair for every person.
Last year, the town realized 12 billion yuan (US$1.45 billion) in
output, turning itself from a tiny unknown roadside village to a
now nationally famous town, and all of this has happened within a
single decade.
Now, an ordinary Datang farmer enjoys an annual income of 10,580
yuan (US$1,275), which is almost 5 times the national average --
2,200 yuan (US$265).
"The legendary story of Datang's economic boom can perhaps give us
some ideas to help deal with the problems faced by farmers, which
the Chinese government must give immediate attention to," said Wang
Guowei, Party secretary of the Zhuji.
Statistics from the Ministry of Civil Affairs show the rural poor
still make up the bulk of the poverty stricken in the nation as a
whole. Although around 2 million poverty-stricken households every
year have been lucky enough to rise above the nation's poverty line
with the help of the government, there are still 6-to-7 million
waiting to be lifted out of poverty each year.
"From my experience, I have seen that one way of solving the
problem is to reduce the number of farmers," said Wang.
Datang's sock industry is an example of how creating a one-product
industry in a particular place through the efforts of all the
residents can enable the surplus rural labor force to leave their
fields and find a way to get rich. This, in economic jargon, is
called a "lump economy."
In
Zhuji, there are nine other "lump economies" like that of Datang.
The town of Diankou has succeeded in creating its own special
hardware manufacturing industry, which reached a total output value
of 10 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion) in 2001. Fengqiao, another
township in Zhuji, benefits from its shirt industry, and realized a
total output value of 6 billion yuan (US$720 million) last year.
The town of Sandu has always been linked with its silk shawls, and
the town of Xiasanhu with its freshwater pearls.
All these "lump economies" combined helped Zhuji achieve an
industrial output value of 55.9 billion yuan (US$6.7 billion), and
a gross domestic product (GDP) of 17.4 billion yuan (US$2.1
billion) last year.
According to a recent survey in 2001, covering all the county-level
cities in China, Zhuji ranked 66th. Certainly, this was no easy
feat for a city with a population of 1.07 million, of which 80
percent are rural residents.
While providing a way for the surplus rural labor force, "lump
economies" have also contributed to the quick expansion of the
towns, their tertiary industry and social undertakings.
(China Daily March 26,
2002)