Zheng Peikun

Deputy to the 14th National People's Congress

Party branch secretary and head of the villagers' committee of Tashan village in Dayou town, Cengong county of Qiandongnan Miao and Dong autonomous prefecture, Guizhou province

Rooted in Guizhou, serving the people

By Zheng Peikun

Whole-process people's democracy at the grassroots starts with hearing, respecting and responding to people's voices.

In Tashan village, we use cultural corridors, courtyards, field ridges and livestock sheds as our meeting venues. I encourage all villagers to openly and frankly discuss any matter, big or small.

I am a deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC) from the grassroots, currently serving as Party branch secretary and head of the villagers' committee of Tashan village, in the town of Dayou, Cengong county of Qiandongnan Miao and Dong autonomous prefecture in Southwest China's Guizhou province.

Since assuming my role, I've been pondering how a grassroots deputy like me can turn whole-process people's democracy into tangible practices in rural areas. Drawing on my four years of experience as a deputy, I would like to share the following three takeaways.

Communicating public opinion to higher-level authorities, delivering policies to the grassroots

Zheng Peikun publicizes the guiding principles of the two sessions to villagers and shares his experience at the meetings. [Photo by Wan Zaixiang]

NPC deputies should act as a vital bridge linking the Party, the country and the people. I realize that a deputy's core duty is to bring the heartfelt voices of the villagers to higher-level authorities and deliver favorable policies of the Party and the government to grassroots communities.

I have submitted 22 suggestions over the years, focusing on livelihood issues and local industrial development. For example, since villagers complained that rising annual premiums for the medical insurance place heavy pressure on big families, I conducted thorough research and suggested optimizing premium structures, boosting government subsidies and exempting seniors aged 70 and above from individual contributions. The competent authorities replied promptly to my suggestions, which touched and inspired me a lot.

This March, I looked into ways for small-scale farmers to integrate into modern agriculture. I exchanged views with villagers at neighborhood gatherings and with fellow deputies in and outside Guizhou, then put forward a suggestion on innovating the mechanism for agricultural commercial services at the annual NPC session.

Specifically, it includes building a four-level service network covering county, township, village and village group, alongside a risk compensation fund. The authorities have recognized its value and are now working on further steps to implement it.

At this year's two sessions — the annual meetings of the NPC and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference — I connected with my fellow villagers from a studio at the residence of the Guizhou delegation to share the guiding principles of the sessions with them.

When I got back to the village, I explained national policies in plain and accessible language. I told villagers that the government is handing out red envelopes again — subsidies for hog breeding, insurance for grain-growing. The words are easy to understand and follow. An elderly villager held my hand and said he now fully understands these policies.

Practicing democracy through collective deliberation

Zheng Peikun gives an on-site explanation to trainees at a local cattle farm. [Photo by Tang Yihuan]

Grassroots communities keep us closest to the public. Whole-process people's democracy at the grassroots starts with hearing, respecting and responding to people's voices.

In Tashan, we use cultural corridors, courtyards, field ridges and livestock sheds as our meeting venues. I encourage all villagers to openly and frankly discuss any matter, big or small. The year before last, many households in the village took up livestock breeding. Most reaped decent profits, yet poor management left some with meager earnings and discontent. I gathered villagers to discuss how to further optimize the industrial structure and increase profit. They shared views frankly, and eventually problems were identified and future plans took shape.

In our village, all matters involving collective interests go through full deliberation. In 2025, the village planned to build a new duck farm, and site selection involved the contracted land of nine households. Instead of merely adopting a majority rule, we held multiple talks and adopted a land-share plan with guaranteed dividends. The move settled land concerns and turned villagers into project shareholders.

We also set up management committees in all nine hamlets in the village. Acting as grassroots hubs, they boost environmental improvement and cultivation of civic virtue, and address bottlenecks in local governance.

The practice of friendly consultation and inclusive discussion integrates democracy into daily life, making it visible, tangible and accessible to all villagers.

Shouldering responsibility for common prosperity

The photo shows a bird's-eye view of Tashan village. [Photo provided to npc.gov.cn]

Rural vitalization hinges on cultivating locally adaptive industries to boost villagers' income. I graduated from university in 2005 and engaged in hog breeding in Hubei province. When I came back to my hometown for a family visit in 2012, I found the village declining, with fertile farmland left uncultivated. Born and raised there, I resolved to return to serve my hometown.

I quit my job in Hubei and returned to start my own business. Meanwhile, I pursued a master's degree in veterinary medicine to sharpen my expertise, leading villagers to pursue prosperity through industrial growth. I later took office as Party branch secretary and villagers' committee head, and was then elected as an NPC deputy. For more than a decade, we have upheld Party leadership and given full play to deputies' role. We pioneered the "Party building + deputies + industries" model. Taking the lead in the provincial campaign of high-quality development — deputies in action, we blazed a distinctive path for rural industrial vitalization.

We strive for not only personal wealth but also collective prosperity. Leveraging the "four links and double increases" mechanism, we joined nine adjacent villages to build modern crop and livestock bases, distributing a total of 11.26 million yuan ($1.66 million) in dividends and benefiting over 2,000 residents across more than 500 households.

We pursue steady income growth and enduring affluence. We set up the Tashan Vocational Farmer Training Center, delivering regular practical training on hog breeding, cattle rearing and crop cultivation. This aims to turn villagers into seasoned local specialists and skilled technicians. By mobilizing villagers to take part in feed growing, marketing, intensive processing and direct sales, we have expanded diverse income sources.

The village now boasts nine specialized farmers' cooperatives, eight agricultural enterprises and 14 family farms, with total agricultural output exceeding 80 million yuan. I have been awarded the title of National Model Worker and nominated as a candidate for National Outstanding Party Affairs Worker this year.

Reflecting on my role as an NPC deputy, I fully acknowledge that whole-process people's democracy underpins residents' better-off lives. Rooted firmly at my post, I shall perform my duties in accordance with the law and remain committed to rural vitalization. I will pursue down-to-earth and scientific progress, bring grassroots aspirations to higher-level authorities and guarantee thorough execution of national agricultural policies. With earnest efforts and fruitful outcomes, I shall live up to the trust and expectations placed in me by the Party and the people and steer villagers toward ever more promising lives.