Deputy County Magistrate Resigns to Farm: Rural Areas Lack Talent, the Country Does Not Lack Civil Servants
Liu Tao introduces his red-fleshed kiwifruit planting base to visitors.
“A 34-year-old deputy county magistrate who graduated from Peking University has resigned to go into farming.” After this news was reported by the media recently, it spread explosively across news media and WeChat Moments, and almost everyone was asking one question: exactly what reason made this young deputy county magistrate resolutely turn his back on his official career and return to his hometown to farm? In the face of all kinds of speculation, the subject of the news, Liu Tao, had a conversation with a reporter about life values, ideals and choices.
□Profile
Peking University graduate, the youngest deputy county magistrate locally
Paoma Village, Dongyueguan Town, Cili County, Hunan Province, is located in the eastern part of the Wuling Mountains, about 280 km from the provincial capital Changsha. The mountain road twists and turns along cliffs and riversides, as if telling every passerby how hard it is to get out of these layers upon layers of mountains. It was precisely from here that 17-year-old Liu Tao was admitted to Peking University.
From the time he started work in 2003, Liu Tao's official career was smooth sailing. That year, Liu Tao, who had graduated from Peking University, took the Hunan Province selected graduate cadre examination. In July of that year, Liu Tao served as an office secretary in Shuangxiqiao Township, Yongding District, Zhangjiajie City.
A year later, the Zhangjiajie Municipal Committee of the Communist Youth League selected two cadres through examination, and Liu Tao was successfully admitted. In 2005, Liu Tao was transferred to the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Communist Youth League. In February 2009, Liu Tao was transferred to the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Division of the United Front Work Department of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee, where he worked until he was transferred to Linli County.
In October 2012, Liu Tao took office as deputy county magistrate of Linli County, Changde City. Among the 7 deputy county magistrates, he was the youngest, at 31 years old at the time.
Resigning from office to farm in pursuit of personal interests and values
At the end of 2014, Liu Tao resigned from the post of deputy county magistrate and decided to go home to grow red-fleshed kiwifruit. The news spread wildly online and also triggered all kinds of speculation. The most frequently mentioned speculation was: was this young deputy county magistrate simply not suited to grassroots work?
A local official who was unwilling to be named said this claim does not hold up, because for a young cadre like Liu Tao who had long worked in the provincial party committee, if he was unhappy, arranging a transfer back to the province would not have been difficult. “Moreover, if he had been content to stay within the system as deputy county magistrate, just muddling along would not have been a problem either.” This official believed that Liu Tao's resignation should be the result of a combination of internal and external factors, with the decisive role played by his personal interests and pursuits.
In interviews with the media, Liu Tao said more than once: “A person's value does not depend on the position he holds, but on the direction in which he strives. Perhaps, in the seat of deputy county magistrate, many people will flatter you. But what they see is that seat, not you as a person.”
Returning home to start a business, hoping to lead fellow villagers to prosperity
Liu Tao also cannot be sure whether, if he had kept working in the United Front Work Department, he would have chosen to resign and farm. But while working in Linli County, after doing some research on rural issues in the townships under his charge, he gained more food for thought.
“The country has very good policies and has also done a lot of support work. For example, building roads and bridges. But if no one in rural areas takes the lead in developing real industry, and farmers do not get a taste of the benefits, rural people will still drift away, and rural land will still be left fallow. The problems of left-behind children and empty-nest elderly are very hard to solve.”
Before his parents moved to Changsha, Liu Tao would return to Paoma Village every year to stay for a period of time. Watching the countryside decline day by day, he was deeply worried. “If nothing is done soon, this place will truly become deserted.”
Liu Tao said: “You cannot wait for time to come. You cannot wait until retirement to do it. Not to mention 30 years, in another five or ten years there really will be no one left.”
“I think we civil servants have certain resources, experience and connections. If we do not go into business ourselves, are we to leave it all to college students?”
Liu Tao is very optimistic about the economic benefits of this fruit. He hopes he can gradually change the face of the mountain village and lead the villagers to prosperity. Now, he has established Paoma Village's first red-fleshed kiwifruit planting base. At the same time, he collects local specialties such as kudzu root, honey and cured meat from farming households, and will build an online sales platform to sell them, which can go live by the end of June.
□Dialogue
On resigning from office: it is simply a career choice
Reporter: Tell us about the reason for your resignation that everyone cares about most. Becoming a deputy county magistrate so young, many people may not reach this position even in their 40s or 50s. Some people online speculate that you resigned either because you did not do well and had no hope of promotion, or because the work pressure was too great and you were not up to it. Do you accept this view?
Liu Tao: Actually, as a civil servant, I did pretty well. Recently I was sorting through old materials and dug out many honor certificates I had received before, for outstanding party member and advanced worker, and I also received a second-class merit medal for civil servants, which is very hard to get. You cannot say I resigned because I could not become county magistrate; that reporter may have misunderstood what I meant. If I had continued step by step, it is not as if there was no room for promotion. Before resigning I was even temporarily transferred to the provincial local taxation bureau, which should show that the leadership recognized my work and that there were opportunities for advancement.
Reporter: Then was there any opportunity or event that prompted you to make the decision to resign and start a business?
Liu Tao: I had this idea for at least more than half a year. After going to work in the county and going down to the grassroots more often and having more contact with ordinary people, I felt that farmers really need someone to lead them in starting businesses. I came from the countryside to begin with, and I have feelings for my hometown and the land. If you go and take a look, you will know that my hometown's environment is very beautiful, but because there are no young people, a lot of land is left uncultivated, at most planted with a little corn, because that is less trouble. I felt that if I did not go back and do this, it might be too late.
Reporter: So you feel this decision is very natural, and not especially difficult or momentous?
Liu Tao: I think it is okay, it is just a career choice. I told other reporters that I think farming is the freest occupation, and I have both the interest and the ability to do it. In fact, quite a few officials are resigning now too, only some go to enterprises, some go abroad, some start businesses. Not many resign to go into agriculture, so that is probably why it attracted attention. The country is also oriented this way now: civil servants should be able to go up and go down, enter and exit.
Reporter: But your family may not necessarily think that way. Do they support you?
Liu Tao: My wife is quite supportive, because it means I can spend more time with her. The most supportive is my 9-year-old son. This Chinese New Year he saved up all his lucky money and said he wanted to leave it for Dad to start a business (laughs). My parents and my grandfather, who is over 80, really did not understand at first, and even shed tears. But now they have all come around. To support me in starting the business, my father, who had already moved to Changsha, went back to the old home and leads everyone working in the fields. My mother has to look after her grandson and also worries about home, so now she shuttles back and forth between Changsha and Cili.