Drive to attract skilled retirees to rural areas

Retirees are encouraged to head back to their rural roots so that their skills and experience can help strengthen the vitalization of the countryside, a government circular said.

Population loss has long beset China's less well-off countryside and hindered efforts to vitalize rural regions, experts said.

A circular published by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs recently said veterans and retirees with backgrounds in public service, education, healthcare and technology as well as with other valuable assets should be the target of local authorities. Human talent along with capital, technology and other resources are needed to develop rural regions.

Those that return should be encouraged to take up roles as industrial development counselors, village affairs supervisors, public opinion collectors and members of village construction think tanks, it said.

Apart from the agricultural ministry, which in the latest institutional reform in March merged with the National Rural Revitalization Administration, the circular's nine authors include the National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic planner, and the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

"The returnees would bring back not only spending power, but also their social connections, management expertise and up-to-date ideas they grasped during their long careers," said Yang Yifan, a professor at Southwest Jiaotong University in Chengdu, Sichuan province, who focuses on aging and rural development issues.

However, he said bringing experienced and well-connected elderly people to rural areas must not be done in isolation. It needs to be accompanied by measures that ensure the living standards of those who have lived in cities for a long time are not compromised by shifting to the countryside.

"A host of issues, such as the way in which they participate in local decision-making, must also be worked out," Yang said.

As early as 2006, authorities incentivized younger people to serve as village officials, teachers, doctors and agricultural technicians in remote areas with the promise of preferential treatment if they served for a certain period of time. Upon returning to rural areas they were eligible for benefits in employment or further education.

More than 469,000 college graduates have enrolled in such programs since 2006 and become rank-and-file workers in 2,300 counties across the country, official data shows.

However, attempts to entice seniors to the rapidly aging countryside, where healthcare is relatively scarce, is a new idea that broadens the definition of talent.

A commentary published by news website ThePaper.cn said tapping a wider range of talent would create a more abundant supply, which will help give "powerful momentum" to the cause of rural vitalization.

Giving back to one's hometown is considered a virtue in Chinese culture.

The commentary noted that individuals highly respected and influential in their local communities can be galvanized to participate in the building of their hometowns as long as they can be motivated to do so. However, policies such as healthcare reimbursement must also be improved for the drive to work.

China's urban-rural system of household registration, known as hukou, still bars out-of-towners from fully enjoying local public services in most cities.

The central government is pushing ahead with its national rural vitalization campaign, which aims to further bolster the rural population's financial standing following the elimination of absolute poverty in recent years.

"Rural vitalization relies primarily on talent and resources," the circular said.

"It is important to attract a group of talented individuals, college graduates and skilled workers to return to their rural hometowns, and persuade migrant workers to head home. Entrepreneurs are also welcome."