Zhang Qingwen: The young man behind the new "land reform"
Driving his little red Geely back to the village, carrying 680 bright red land contract management right certificates, Zhang Qingwen had barely stepped into the village committee office when the villagers who had been waiting there early surrounded him. Before long, most of the 680 "land certificates" had been handed out.
Zhang Qingwen let out a long sigh of relief. The matter of land confirmation and certification had finally basically settled. With land having an "ID card," the villagers could set their minds at ease. "Those who go to the city to work no longer worry about their land being confiscated, and the large-scale operators who transfer land can invest with peace of mind," Zhang Qingwen said.
Zhang Qingwen is an atypical "post-80s" young man. While others rush to big cities, he returned to his hometown of Youzhuang Village, Laozhaozhuang Town, Linqing City, Shandong Province, to serve as village Party secretary.
Zhang Qingwen admits that he witnessed one "land reform" and took part in another.
-- More than 30 years ago, just as Zhang Qingwen was born, a "land reform" of "contracting output to households" and "contracting everything to households" was sweeping the country, greatly liberating rural productivity and solving the food problem for hundreds of millions of people in one stroke.
-- More than 30 years later, under the tide of urbanization and industrialization, how to once again invigorate rural areas? To further deepen rural reform and liberate and develop rural productivity, Shandong took the lead in launching the confirmation, registration and certification of rural contracted land, and Zhang Qingwen personally took charge of this new "land reform" in Youzhuang Village...
?Let the farmers set their minds at ease
In early winter, the weather was chilly. Arriving in Youzhuang and meeting Zhang Qingwen, this son of the soil, for the first time, he seemed no different from anyone else. But from the way he "sounded off" about rural work, it was clear Zhang Qingwen really knew his stuff.
The clock turns back to an autumn morning in 2014. On the roof of the Youzhuang Village Committee, after the national anthem played over the loudspeaker, Zhang Qingwen's voice came through: "Fellow villagers, attention please. Now I'll explain the matter of land confirmation and certification to everyone..." He had barely finished speaking and had not yet stepped out of the office when some villagers, throwing on their coats, came looking for him.
"Isn't the land supposed to stay unchanged for 30 years?" "Didn't we get contract certificates before?" "What's the use of this certificate?" ... Everyone was talking at once, surrounding Zhang Qingwen.
Youzhuang Village has more than 2,300 people, but most of those farming at home are "4050" personnel (women over 40 and men over 50), and with limited education, as soon as they heard it was about land, they came straight over to confront Zhang Qingwen face to face and get a clear answer.
"You're the outstanding village Party secretary praised by the city, you can't cheat us."
"What kind of talk is that? Does the secretary's family have no land or something?" Zhang Jitai, the village clerk standing nearby, couldn't stand it and cut in.
"Land is the lifeblood of us farmers," Zhang Qingwen said. "When it comes to land, every uncle, aunt, and elder is especially concerned. We understand."
"I didn't understand at first either. I've just spent several days at training in the town and city, and I've brought back the official red-header documents for you." Zhang Qingwen opened up. In the past, some land had contract certificates and some didn't. Now it was to be done uniformly, confirming the land rights and issuing ironclad certificates. With this certificate, it is protected by law.
Afterward, Zhang Qingwen also invited Li Zhe, a peer, to explain the policy. This post-80s college graduate who had systematically studied the relevant policies and regulations said, "We strictly implement the laws, regulations and policies on rural land contracting, achieving 'three unchanged, one strictly prohibited.'" That is, the land contracting relationship remains unchanged, the contracted plots and areas of contracting households remain relatively unchanged, the start and end years of the second-round land contracting contracts remain unchanged, and it is strictly prohibited to illegally adjust or take back farmers' contracted land under any pretext. "Fellow villagers, set your minds at ease. The land is still your land. This time we're giving you certification. From now on, no one can take it away." As he spoke, Li Zhe walked to the entrance of the village two committees' office and posted the policies, regulations and the reporting hotline on the public notice board.
Zhang Qingwen said, if you don't believe it, we can first confirm the land of the village two committees' members, then the Party members'. "With that word from you, it's settled. The leaders and Party members take the lead, and we feel reassured," said villager Zhang Qingzhong.
However, in Li Zhe's view, the reason the villagers trusted him was not only because of the red-header documents, but also largely due to the mass foundation Zhang Qingwen had built earlier.
In 2012, it was again time for the village's leadership transition. At that time, the village was divided, the village two committees existed in name only, and no one wanted to take on this mess. The old Party secretary also emphasized stability above all, but seeing the surrounding villages develop, the village's Party members and villagers grew anxious and wanted to change the village's "old and decrepit" governing atmosphere. Zhang Qingwen volunteered to run for election, and surprisingly won, and he carried two burdens on one shoulder, serving as both village Party secretary and village director. "A babe with no hair on his lip can't handle things reliably. So young, can he hold his own in the village?" ... There were quite a few voices of opposition. After all, Zhang Qingwen was only 30 years old at the time.
Zhang Qingwen had worked as a worker in a flour mill in the county town, served as a soldier, worked as a traffic policeman, and bought a bus to run transport. This forged a maturity beyond his actual age, and even more so, a character that refused to admit defeat.
Change came through action. Since Zhang Qingwen took office, the village began to transform dramatically: 9 km of hardened cement roads were built, 130 streetlights lit up, a cultural square was built, rural films were shown... "These little changes, bit by bit, are like magic," said a villager. This young man has accomplished everything the villagers wanted done. "When we voted for him back then, we really voted right."
The one practical thing after another done for the village also raised Zhang Qingwen's prestige.
????Map survey + actual measurement, making farmers genuinely convinced
Farmers especially value land. If there is more land, they say nothing, but if you take away even a handful of their soil, they will give you an earful. This was Zhang Qingwen's deep impression during this land confirmation.
Youzhuang Village has 3,300 mu of land, of which 158 mu is flexible land held by the village collective, and the rest is in the hands of the villagers. Zhang Qingwen well understood the importance of land to farmers. "Even if it takes more effort, we must make the villagers genuinely convinced," Zhang Qingwen said. He had lost count of how many times the "two meetings" had been held. Seeing the reporter's confusion, Zhang Qingwen laughed and said, "These 'two meetings' are the village Party branch meeting and the villagers' representative assembly!"
Finally, the village set the rule: this land confirmation would require three rounds of public announcement. Zhang Qingwen said all 46 Party members went door to door to conduct a preliminary survey and count how much land each household had, then publicized it; then actual measurements were taken, and the "hard data" such as area was publicized again; finally, if any farming household had objections, the reasons were investigated, and it was publicized again. After there were no objections, the farming household representatives signed to confirm.