Communist farmer leaves behind inspiring legacy

On Tuesday, thousands of people paid their final respects to Wu Renbao, a communist farmer who rose to fame by leading his fellow farmers to prosperity with a distinctive development model.

Wu, the retired Communist Party of China (CPC) secretary of Huaxi Village in east China's Jiangsu Province, died of cancer on Monday afternoon. He was 85.

Wu was elected Party chief of Huaxi Village in 1961, when the impoverished village had a population of 667, collective assets of 25,000 yuan (about 4,000 U.S. dollars) and debts of 15,000 yuan.

Wu, a bold reformer, made the village the richest in China through its own industrialization, which began with the construction of a hardware factory in the 1960s.

Boosted by industry, commerce, tourism and other sectors, in 2012, the sales revenue of the village reached 52.4 billion yuan and its per capita income reached 88,000 yuan.

"Our old village Party secretary has gone, but he left us rich material and spiritual legacies, especially his principles of 'common prosperity' and 'to work as long as you live,'" said Wu Xie'en, the fourth son of Wu Renbao and current Party secretary of Huaxi.

"The collective economy featuring common prosperity is the key to Huaxi's success. We must adhere to the principle," said the younger Wu, who was elected to his current post in 2003, when his father opted to retire.

Among the mourners was Qiu Wanquan, Party secretary of Xinhua Village in Yinchuan, capital of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, an area that has been underdeveloped due to tough natural conditions.

Xinhua Village was part of Wu Renbao's efforts to help more poverty-stricken people in other places change their fates.

In the mid-1990s, Wu decided to establish another "Huaxi Village" in the suburbs of Yinchuan by relocating 5,000 impoverished people from mountainous areas.

With financial support and technological guidance from Huaxi Village, the per capita net income of Xinhua Village has increased to 5,000 yuan from less than 1,000 yuan in the past, and people there now rely on planting cash crops and developing husbandry.

"The most important thing that Huaxi Village and old Secretary Wu Renbao brought us are the improvement of people's qualities and the change in their mindsets," said Qiu.

"Without the establishment of 'Huaxi Village' in Ningxia, I would be in my former village and living a far poorer life than now," said Wang Quanshan, a resident of Xinhua Village.

Amid rapid industrialization and urbanization, China's agricultural and rural development have entered a new phase. In an effort to support large-scale farming, the government will create policies to speed up rural land transfers and offer more subsidies for family farms and farming cooperatives.

Huaxi Village has been dubbed China's "No. 1 village" for its great success. Several other villages, like Nanjie Village in central Henan Province, have also spurred economic booms by developing the local economy.

However, these villages are just a tiny fraction of the 680,000 villages across China. The poverty-stricken population in rural areas stood at 98.99 million at the end of 2012, official statistics show. Rural people with an annual per capita net income of 2,300 yuan or less are classified as poor under the current poverty standards adopted in 2011.

Wu Renbao and Huaxi Village also dazzled the country with a feature film named for him last year and the construction of a 328-meter-tall building in the village several years ago.

As the Chinese work to realize a well-off life and the great rejuvenation of the nation, the country's leadership has vowed to narrow the wealth gap, a major source of public complaint, by striving for common prosperity via development and reform.

Over the past several months, the country initiated a frugality campaign and vowed to fight corruption. Long before any efforts had been launched, however, Wu Renbao had already set an example in this respect.

When fellow villagers moved into new villas, Wu Renbao continued to reside in his house that was built in the 1970s. After retiring and aging well into his twilight years, he continued to work hard for the development of the village.

The elder Wu had said he believed in socialism and regarded common prosperity as one of its characteristics.

"I lived a poor life in the past. I feel sad when I see people live a poor life. My biggest wish is to make poor people live a good life.Communists should seek happiness for the majority of the people," he once said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said Sunday that Chinese people should enhance their confidence in socialism with Chinese characteristics and make persistent efforts to realize the "Chinese dream."

The Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation "is a dream of the whole nation, as well as that of every individual," he said, adding that all Chinese deserve the same opportunities to enjoy a wonderful life.

Currently, Huaxi Village covers 30 square kilometers and includes 16 surrounding villages, with a total population of 35,000.

"If we truly understand the meaning of Chinese characteristics, there will be tens of thousands of Huaxi Villages to emerge in China," said Wu Xie'en.