This June, the National
Development and Reform Commission approved the establishment of the
Chengdu Urban-rural Development Zone. Chengdu has effectively
bridged urban-rural gaps over the past a few years, a progress
which will be strengthened by this zone.
In February 2004, the
Chengdu government formulated a plan titled, Recommendations for
Balancing Urban-rural Development, followed by 50 supporting
documents concerning residence registration, township government
reform, industrial layout, public finance, social security,
education and health care. A new urban-rural administrative system
is taking shape, with the goal of equalizing conditions.
A better life for
farmers
Shuxing Garden is a
special residential area in Shuangliu County that houses almost 700
farmers. Each apartment here is no less than 88 square meters, and
there are supermarkets and a kindergarten nearby, together with a
complete set of supporting facilities.
Chengdu has built about
600 similar communities in the surrounding counties. Altogether
270,000 farmers now live in this new type of rural residential
area, enjoying a much better life than before.
Xie Ruiwu, the Communist
Party Chief of Shuangliu County, talked about farmers’ lives after
relocation. In the old days, the farmers were free to choose where
they wanted new houses to be. However, lack of unified arrangement,
such houses were often apt to being relocated again, resulting much
waste. So, the government now designates specific areas for
relocation, in the hope of developing more stable residential
communities.
Chengdu, like many big
cities in China, is facing an urban-rural gap. Li Chuncheng, the
Party chief of Chengdu, said that the key to addressing these
problems is to balance urban-rural development, and allow rural
residents to share the benefits of reform and growth.
For balanced development,
Chengdu is moving factories into standardized industrial zones to
better handle environmental pollution, speeding up urbanization to
narrow the urban-rural income gap, and encouraging intensive
agricultural production.
The relocated farmers are
provided with good living conditions and social security. In order
to expand the farmers’ income sources, Chengdu also launched a
job-training program in 2005, and by the end of last year, 719,000
farmers had been trained.
Nearly 1.7 million
surplus laborers in rural areas are now employed in
non-agricultural sectors, with a combined income totaling 10
billion yuan. After leaving agriculture, farmers are working in the
secondary industry, service industry, land lease, and land
transfer.
Intensive agricultural
production
Two priorities in
urban-rural development are fostering competitive agriculture and
promoting intensive production.
Hongsha village, 7
kilometers away from Chengdu, was once poverty-stricken but is now
a popular tourist resort. The village was prohibited from starting
large-scale construction because it’s upwind of the city. However,
the government realized its potential as a sightseeing area.
In order to be more
attractive to tourists, villagers began to renovate their
residential houses into the West Sichuan Style and plant more
flowers. With improved household facilities, they were also able to
provide dining and accommodation services to the tourists. In less
than three years, Hongsha has made its way into one of the most
favored tourist destinations in the province.
Lin Derong, a 31-year-old
villager, explained that he used to grow roses, earning no more
than 1,500 yuan a year. But now, he can make 4,500 yuan each year
through land transfer, and about 20,000 to 30,000 yuan from
providing accommodation. In 2006, the per capita income of Hongsha
village averaged 7,850 yuan.
The intensive
agricultural production has brought about many competitive
enterprises as well as farmer associations. At the end of 2006, the
land transfer in Chengdu reached some 102,520 hectares. There are
580 large-scale enterprises and 1,563 farmer associations. It is
roughly estimated that the agricultural output value has reached
1,000 yuan per mu (15 mu = 1 hectare), an increase of
600 yuan. The farmers are diversifying their income sources through
land leases, house leases, and social security.
Extended public
service
Ge Honglin, mayor of
Chengdu, said that the most important link needed to bridge the
urban-rural gap is giving the rural residents equal access to
public services.
In 2006, the total
investment of Chengdu concerning rural issues was 6.924 billion
yuan, making up 24 percent of city’s financial revenue, an increase
of 780 percent on 2002. In 2004, 1 billion yuan was injected to
improve the basic education in rural areas, benefiting 600,000
students in 410 rural primary schools.
To ensure farmers’ access
to medical care, 200 million yuan was invested in 2005 to rebuild
224 health stations in towns and 300 in villages. By the end of
2006, thanks to a government subsidy of 190 million yuan, 93
percent of the rural residents had been covered by a new medical
plan.
The social insurance is
also improving, including a new medical plan in rural areas, a
comprehensive social insurance for the relocated farmers, the old
age pension, and the basic living security. Up until now, 202,000
farmers have joined in the insurance, and 71,000 are getting their
monthly old age pension on time.
Farmers are enjoying a
much better life now. In 2006, the rural per capita net income in
Chengdu averaged 4,905 yuan, an increase of 45.2 percent on 2002;
the income gap between rural and city residents was narrowed from
2.66:1 in 2002 to 2.61:1 in 2006.
Li Chuncheng explained
that to balance urban-rural development, it is imperative to
establish a uniform administrative system, public service system,
and autonomous governance at the grassroots level.
(China.org.cn by Lu Lu, August 28, 2007)