Li Jiucun (L) visits a village-run enterprise. [Photo/npc.gov.cn]

Li Jiucun (R) talks with a builder working on drainage for a sports ground at Zhaowa village. [Photo/npc.gov.cn]

Li Jiucun (R1) goes over Zhaowa village's layout planning. [Photo/npc.gov.cn]

'Early bird' Party chief makes indebted village a thriving hub

On a cold winter morning, Li Jiucun, Party chief of Zhaowa village in Shuangyang township, left his home before dawn and arrived at the village committee office at 6:30 am, ready to meet his fellow villagers and address their various concerns.

Li, also a deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC), has kept this daily routine since becoming the village's Party chief in 2001. This commitment has won him the nickname "Party chief at 6:30 am".

Start small, aim big

Located in Zibo in Shandong province, Zhaowa became a prosperous village in the 1980s thanks to the reform and opening-up. However, it later met difficulties and was burdened with a debt of over 200 million yuan ($31.64 million).

Appointed as Zhaowa's Party chief in 2001, Li determined to win back the people's trust and the village's glory. Together with the village committee and the village Party branch, he decided to tackle small problems affecting the people's lives before moving on to big challenges.

At the time, the village's dirt roads were quite bumpy and filthy, especially when it rained, and villagers often littered trash around their houses.

Kicking off the village's renewal, cadres led by Li used simple tools like brooms and wheelbarrows to clean every street and alley and also mobolized residents to participate. To make up for a shortage of funds, Li's team also worked with builders to lay roadbeds. It took them only three months to pave all eight south-north roads in the village with concrete.

Competitive industry drives new prosperity

As environmental sanitation got better in Zhaowa, Li then spearheaded efforts to improve construction of its public infrastructure.

Over the years, they have built a folk museum, a history hall, a botanical garden, an artificial lake and a 7,500-sqm square for sports and recreational activities in the village, providing strong support for the villagers' wellbeing.

To assist indebted village-run enterprises and bolster a declining collective economy, Li and his team restructured or started 25 enterprises through auction, bankruptcy, investment and other methods, which gradually helped repay debt totaling more than 200 million yuan and brought idle assets worth 68 million yuan back into service.

With the economy back on the right track, Li then worked on developing the village's industries to give them a more competitive edge in order to help locals increase their incomes.

Being adjacent to a building materials market, Zhaowa made full use of this geographical advantage and set up a car sales and service company. Hi-tech companies and modern service projects were also introduced, which enabled more villagers to switch from farming or labor-intensive jobs to running businesses and transformed Zhaowa from an embattled village into a thriving hub in just a dozen years.

The best chance to chart a new path for green development is to replace old growth drivers with new ones at a faster pace and upgrade outdated industries, Li said.

Today, Zhaowa has become a beautiful village supported by all kinds of facilities, such as an apartment building for elderly people, a kindergarten and a clinic. It has also earned numerous honors and titles for its outstanding achievements, such as National Civilized Village and National Model Village of Democracy and Rule of Law.

Good listener, reliable leader

Though a grassroots official, Li said he is ready to stand up for his community. For over 20 years, he has lived by this principle in improving the village and winning people's hearts and minds. He is the person to go to when villagers encounter difficulties or have conflicts with each other.

The reason to meet villagers in the early morning, according to Li, is that people are more calm at that time and are more willing to engage in reasonable conversations to analyze problems and find a solution. This meeting hour also has the least impact on their busy daily schedules.

Over a period of time, Li said he was happy to find himself less besieged by complaints, and more engaged with suggestions and proposals on the village's development.

Li has since shifted his attention to improving the village’s administration. Under his leadership, Zhaowa has opened a resident service center that processes 45 kinds of administrative matters. The village has also introduced a code of conduct, encouraged families to embrace virtuous behavior, and supported an ethos of simplicity and honesty.

In January 2018, the "Party chief at 6:30 am" was elected as a deputy to the 13th National People's Congress. Li has put forward many suggestions on key topics related to people's livelihoods, such as those regarding the collective economy and excessive medical testing, during last year's NPC session .

For pilot reforms of the rural collective property rights system, Li's suggestion was to make a breakthrough in township-village cooperation, steer development with key projects, and advance reforms in accordance with local conditions. He also called for measures to reduce the financial burden of patients and establish a fair medical treatment system.

As an NPC deputy for four years, Li has brought the voice of the people, as well as his own experience, to the top legislature. Li said he will continue to speak for the people and contribute to rural vitalization.