Poverty Alleviation of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League

　　【Overview】 In 2010, the priorities of the anti-poverty work of the Communist Youth League of China (hereinafter referred as to Communist Youth League) included helping the farmers in Lingqiu County of Shanxi Province increase income and get rich and supporting the villagers to improve the production and living condition. The Communist Youth League actively promoted the entire village advancement, implemented more than ten anti-poverty projects with investment of more than 3 million Yuan, including personnel, material and financial contribution, and supported Lingqiu County to apply for three key national projects and anti-poverty funds of more than 15 million Yuan, effectively boosting the economic and social development of the county.

　　【Field research for poverty alleviation】Under the principle of "benefiting the people, in urgent need by county party committee, demonstration for long-term development and within the limits of our resources", the poverty relief working team of the Central Committee of the Communist Young League strengthened investigations and research to understand the actual situation and further clarified the working idea. Based on the economic and social development status of Lingqiu County, it determined the basic conditions of the county, the operating mode of the party and government organs, the status and causes of poverty of the masses in the old revolutionary base area and current status of rural grassroots organizations and cadres, etc. They visited the county leaders, retired comrades and working team leaders, conducted field research in 12 towns, 14 key villages for new rural construction, 6 schools and hospitals, 4 youth centers and 22 agricultural demonstration bases in the county and held 25 seminars. Through questionnaire survey, they made clear the current status of the youth, the construction of grassroots youth league organizations, the work the youth league organizations did, appointment of youth league leaders and the opinions of party and government leaders, etc. Meanwhile, they combined the field research with the anti-poverty work and included field research in the whole process of poverty reduction.

　　【Projects to increase the income of farmers】Since 2006, through construction of the "organic vegetable" project, the poverty alleviation working team of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League helped design and construct infrastructure projects such as street park, road hardening and afforetation project, and made Qingnijian Village of Donghenan Town a famous demonstrative village for new rural construction. In 2010, the poverty alleviation working team developed the work plan of consolidation to enhance the "blood-making" function and made steady progress in the construction of projects to increase farmers’ income. First, continue to develop vegetable greenhouse industry. It invited teachers from Hebei Agricultural University to provide counterpart support for the villagers, strengthened trainings of vegetable growers and held six training courses for more than 150 people. Secondly, guide the farmers to launch processing enterprises. Based on the good quality and complete species of small grains, they helped young leaders to coordinate petty loans for the construction of small grain processing factories so as to expand the market and increase the value added of small grains. Thirdly, conduct demonstration and promotion of new species and new technologies. Through contacting the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, they introduced high-yield Dr. King No. 958 Corn Cultivars with good market prospect and strong premonition for experimental planting; and continued to promote the new drip irrigation system in the village’s greenhouses. 

　　【Construction of model village for poverty reduction】 In 2010, the working team identified Hanjiafang Village of Wuling Town as the model village for new rural construction and strived to make it a model village for ecological construction. After seeking opinions of the county party committee and county government, under the principle of "appropriate size, team unity, appropriate foundation and simple and honest folkway", it developed the anti-poverty work plan and procedures. First, set up a leading group and hold a meeting jointly with the village’s party committee and party branch every other week to promptly resolve difficulties and problems. Secondly, make scientific planning based on local conditions. It invited the Planning and Design Institute of Tsinghua University to make comments based on full demonstration and assessment and, through "four proposals and two openness", the people can choose projects and develop planning by themselves. Thirdly, guide farmers to change their ideas to create a good atmosphere for common prosperity. The working team issued the "Letter by Poverty Alleviation Working Team of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China to the Villages", held villagers’ forums and organized the leaders in becoming rich to introduce experience and help the villagers change their lazy habit and backward idea of being satisfied with small wealth, aiming to enhance the cultural quality of farmers. Fourthly, accelerate the adjustment of industrial structure. They successively visited Binzhou and some other places in Shandong for field research and introduced donkey breeding industry; through providing incentives and subsidies, they encouraged farmers to raise pigs and renovated a standardized farming community; cooperated with Industrial Research Institute of Beijing Forestry Society to introduce Beijing Olympics chrysanthemum (tea) planting projects; developed facility agricultural development plan and set up 73 vegetable greenhouses to cultivate vegetable growers. Fifthly, improve village appearance by landscaping. They renewed the old stages in the villages and subsidized to establish the Village Central Garden Square integrating eco-friendly demonstration, leisure and recreational activities as well as cultural traditions; created 18 wall posters for new rural construction; carried out afforestation activities in spring for street beautification; and provided financial aid for the construction of village waste disposal projects. Sixthly, coordinate county government to invest nearly 2 million Yuan to repair the village primary school and clinics. They donated books worth 100,000 Yuan to the village primary school; Seventhly, construct the village’s party committee and villager’s committee. It actively practiced the "four proposals and two openness"; carried out the "moral model" contest; re-elected the village branch groups and provided computers, book frames and other equipment worth 40,000 Yuan. Eighthly, focus on the improvement of people's livelihood and develop social undertakings. They actively made propagandas for environmental protection knowledge and encouraged the use of solar stoves and solar water heaters to promote healthy green lifestyle.

　　【Introduction of key projects】 The Poverty Alleviation Working Team of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China, with wide social contacts, reported to National Development and Reform Commission about the anti-poverty work for six times and strived for 14 million Yuan of renovation project funds for the inpatient buildings of county hospitals; assisted the county party committee and county government in declaration of "Pilot Counties for National New Rural Social Endowment Insurance" and all the 24,000 elderly people above 60 in the county can receive 55 Yuan of pension payment per person per month from the state; coordinated the State Forestry Administration to allocate 800,000 Yuan of agricultural development project funds; made actively declaration of rural environmental protection fund projects to Ministry of Environmental Protection; coordinated Shanghai Fosun Group to invest in Lingqiu County, actively coordinated China Cuisine Association to conduct marker survey on food culture  in Lingqiu County and granted Lingqiu County the title of "raw material base for China's green food ".

　　【Poverty alleviation by facility agriculture】 To boost the development of facility agriculture in Lingqiu County, it coordinated Shanghai Zhongdu Seeds Science & Technology Co., Ltd to provide counterpart assistance. First, it signed a cooperation agreement with Shanghai Zhongdu Seeds Science & Technology Co., Ltd and formulated the “Five-Year Plan for the Development of Vegetable Industry in Lingqiu County (2010-2015)”; Secondly, it coordinated Shanghai Zhongdu Seeds Science & Technology Co., Ltd to set up a five-member technical service team for vegetable growing to provide technical services in Lingqiu County and sent people to carry out new technology and new species demonstration and promotion for facility vegetable production; Thirdly, it organized a delegation to participate in 2010 Shanghai International Expo on New and Superior Vegetable Seeds & Vegetable Industry Fair and coordinated relevant enterprise to donate for free vegetable seeds worth 1 million Yuan. It held the on-site demonstration meeting on facility agricultural production and, through introducing technical personnel and new vegetable species, increased the economic benefits of more than 1100 greenhouses in the county, which fully mobilized the enthusiasm of the masses for development of greenhouses and helped local residents to embark on a way of poverty reduction by vegetable growing under the special weather conditions in mountain areas.

　　【Human resource development】People of 12 towns were organized to participate in technological trainings in fallow seasons. It carried out the four-season sunshine entrepreneurial activity to train more than 100 rural young people and college village cadres, and the employment and entrepreneurship rate reached 24%; The Youth League selected 24 outstanding young people to attend the one-week training in Shanghai Zhongdu Seeds Science & Technology Co., Ltd and 20 trainees launched businesses for vegetable growing after that; through learning from others, it trained more than 40 experts in vegetable growing; organized 11 headmasters of primary and secondary schools to learn advanced school-running mode and experience of Linyi, Shandong; held for the first time a three-day training for 243 grassroots Youth League leaders; invited experts of the Central Party School, the Central Communist Youth League School, Peking University Health Science Center, University of Science and Technology Beijing and Beijing Forestry University to carry out research, give lectures and provide cultural, technological and health services in the countryside for 13 times; held trainings for more than 3,000 person-times; assisted the organization department of the county party committee to publicly select 20 deputy county-level cadres to successively participate in the development of plan for public election, expert invitation, written test and interview organization and inspection, etc.

　　【Social poverty alleviation】With support of International Liaison Department of the Central Committee of Communist Youth League, we donated 22 computers and two switches to the Sino-Japanese Friendship Zhaobei Hope Primary School, established one electronic library, donated 40,000 Yuan for the students to buy school supplies and improved the school’s hardware facilities; supported by the Organization Department of the Central Committee of Communist Youth League, we donated reading materials worth 200,000 Yuan to four primary and secondary schools including Lingqiu No.2 Middle School, etc; supported by the Central Service Bureau of the Communist Youth League, we purchased metal bookcases for 254 college student village cadres in the county; and installed for free solar water heaters for 28 township nursing homes and hospitals, the middle schools where graduates were sent to support teaching, some primary schools and the county bureaus, etc.

　　【Construction of grassroots organizations】 In 2010, equal attention was given to the anti-poverty work and the construction of Youth League and the re-election of county, town and village-level Youth League leader was completed. The leadership was stronger. First, set up village-level Youth League branches in 245 villages; Secondly, the new township Youth League leaders were elected in 12 towns; Thirdly, held the 16th Congress of the Communist Youth League in Lingqiu County; Fourthly, promoted the Youth League construction of new economic organizations and new social organizations in the county and 14 private enterprises have got Youth League organizations.

　　【Employment and entrepreneurship of rural youth】 Starting with microcredit and employment and entrepreneurship trainings for rural youth, we actively recommended to county rural credit cooperatives the young with entrepreneurial aspirations, issued loans of 7.245 million Yuan to address the venture capital problem of 172 young people; coordinated the county committee’s organization department, county Youth League Committee and the county rural cooperatives to provide credit loans for college students’ pioneering work; through demonstration, information exchange and advisory services, we organized trainings for more than 500 person-times with investment of 40,000 Yuan; established the first youth employment and entrepreneurship training base of Communist Youth League – Ririhong Flower and Nursery Stock Youth Training Base to provide employment and entrepreneurship practice opportunity for more than 30 young people.