Creating an Ecological Field of Hope
China Today (English)|May 2021
JIANG Yijia has an ambitious goal in life. The successful entrepreneur wants to bring hope to his fellow villagers by improving their life quality and beautifying their countryside.
MA YAN
Creating an Ecological Field of Hope

Jiang, who won a national award for his contribution to poverty alleviation,is the Party secretary of Gongshi Joint Village (consisting of Gongshi and five other neighboring villages) in Suining City, Sichuan Province. Under his leadership, the village that had no road access and whose farmland was largely abandoned is now full of fruit trees on the mountain slopes, while the fields located at the foot of the mountain are fertile and lush. Most villagers now live in storied houses, drive their own cars, and have tap water and natural gas in their homes. In their spare time, villagers go to the village cultural and sports activity center to exercise, read books, and play chess.

To lead his villagers on the road to prosperity, Jiang has implemented Chinese President Xi Jinping’s concept of “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets,” always insisting on ecological priority, green development, and building the village into a field of hope.

Localizing Industries

Jiang was born in Gongshi Village in 1959. In 1978, he was drafted into the army and left his hometown. When he retired from the army after 19 years of service, he started his own business. Jiang explained that this choice stemmed from a wish he made at the age of 12. “When I grow up, I want to see the world outside and return to my hometown when I have the means to build it up and change its face of poverty and backwardness,” he recalled. After 10 years of hard work, Jiang became a successful entrepreneur with assets of more than RMB 10 million. With his financial muscle, in 2007 he was able to begin the process of rejuvenating his hometown and uplifting those who lived there out of poverty.

This story is from the May 2021 edition of China Today (English).

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This story is from the May 2021 edition of China Today (English).

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