Village Party chief leads way to better life

In Daicun village of Lanling county in Linyi, Shandong province, a new pastoral complex is about to break ground. Once completed, it will benefit 11 villages that are home to more than 26,000 farmers.

The complex is a new model of comprehensive agricultural development, integrating modern agriculture, leisure culture, tourism and community.

At the beginning of the year, Wang Chuanxi, Party secretary of Daicun and delegate to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China — along with other Party officials and members from the other 10 villages — founded a temporary joint Party committee, to boost the development of the project.

"Under the leadership of the joint Party committee, we are able to work together to benefit more people," Wang said.

Today, Daicun is a vivid example of an idyllic and tidy village, where residents enjoy happy lives. It is hard to imagine, just 20 years ago, things looked totally different.

In 1999, Wang, who was in his early 30s, was elected as village Party secretary, but the village collective was deep in debt, and Daicun had a poor reputation.

Wang put together a strong Party organization that is trusted by villagers.

During the past two decades, the village Party organization has been leading resident to make better use of their land by developing agricultural parks and tourism.

All residents of Daicun have now risen out of poverty. The village collective had a net income of 160 million yuan ($22.13 million) last year.

Wang said that no matter how great Daicun's achievements, development should remain people-centered and oriented toward prosperity for all.