Congress inspires village on path to prosperity

Chen Yanhong has an ambitious goal of transforming her village of Gekeng in Yangshan county, Guangdong province, into a paradise for the integrated development of agriculture and tourism.

The Party chief and director of the village said she's confident of achieving the goal after attending the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, which concluded in Beijing in October last year.

"The work report of the 20th CPC National Congress and its mentioning of advancing rural vitalization across the board has inspired me and increased my confidence," she said.

Chen, a delegate to the congress, has mapped out a plan to develop the economy of her village to focus on agriculture and tourism and how they can be utilized together for mutual benefit.

After Chen returned to Gekeng, she held meetings with village cadres and visited households to discuss and ask for their opinions on the direction of the village's development, and extol the messages of the 20th CPC National Congress.

Located in the northern part of Guangdong province, Yangshan county, administered by the city of Qingyuan, has beautiful natural scenery and the agricultural products that come out of Gekeng are of high quality, said Chen.

"We have no problem with production, we only lack sales chains and need to further develop our deep-processing industry," she said.

To this end, priority will be given to the construction of roads, the expansion of logistics and distribution networks and the improvement of the village's environment and ecology while introducing new technologies and popularizing mechanization to increase agricultural efficiencies, Chen said.

According to Chen, great changes have already taken place in Gekeng since the village started promoting "the construction of a beautiful countryside" in 2014 .

The once poverty-stricken Gekeng has become a village with a beautiful environment, excellent ecological conditions and a strong harmonious atmosphere, Chen said.

The village's economy has also developed rapidly in the past few years, she added.

Five cooperatives, three large family farms and more than 20 large poultry breeding households and major agricultural product growers have been established in the village, providing more than 200 jobs to locals.

Li Yundi, a Gekeng resident, said there used to be a big garbage problem in the village.

"After the sanitation infrastructure was upgraded, the village's environment has now become beautiful and the river is cleaner," she said.

Wu Jianhao, a social worker in the village from Qigong township, said the villagers have become more engaged since the environment has improved and their incomes have increased.

"I can clearly sense in my daily work, with the common goal of rural vitalization and the leading role that Party members and village cadres play, villagers are more energetic in participating in rural construction," he said.

Tang Xuting contributed to this story.