Provincial Model Worker Lei Hongwei: Gaining Wealth Without Forgetting the People of His Hometown

Lei Hongwei, male, 48 years old, currently serves as the village director of Suxi Village, Suxi Town, Taihe County, and as the Party branch secretary of the Suxi Town Lily Planting Farmers' Professional Cooperative. Since becoming village director of Suxi Village, Lei Hongwei has always maintained a positive mental attitude, throwing himself into his work with a spirit of pioneering and enterprising, perseverance, pressing forward in the face of difficulties, and courage to shoulder heavy responsibilities. He put forward the goal of "laying the foundation in one year, reaching a new level in two years, and creating an advanced model in three years," establishing the concept of prioritizing enriching the people in development, the internal drive of prioritizing entrepreneurship in enriching the people, and the measure of prioritizing the environment in entrepreneurship. In 2013, he was named one of the "Top Ten Outstanding Talents of Taihe County" by the Taihe County Party Committee, and has been named an outstanding Communist Party member multiple times. Under his leadership, Suxi Village has undergone earth-shaking changes, with moderately prosperous households accounting for 78.6% of the village. Beautiful and distinctive small Western-style houses have sprung up, wide and flat rural roads extend in all directions, and a scene of prosperous farming families can be seen everywhere. Recently, a reporter interviewed provincial model worker Lei Hongwei.

Lei Hongwei picking lilies in a lily field

Devoting Himself to Research, Driving Villagers to Prosper

In the early 1990s, a lily craze arose in Suxi Town. Lei Hongwei began asking around about where there were farmers who had successfully grown lilies, and went to learn planting experience. For lilies to achieve high yields, one must first select suitable land for planting, then select good seeds, and at the same time improve management levels, such as soil disinfection, seed disinfection, field ditch clearing and drainage, and pest and disease control. Every step is closely linked and cannot be neglected.

Lei Hongwei, having mastered lily planting techniques, not only grew lilies himself but also actively encouraged surrounding villagers to plant them, driving villagers to prosperity and helping them purchase seeds and select sites. Regarding questions raised by growers about soil disinfection, seed disinfection, and field management, he responded to every request. The villagers' economic returns were considerable, and the door to prosperity was thus opened. From then on, the reputation of the "Hometown of Lilies" became known throughout the county and even the entire province and the whole country.

At present, the lily planting industry in Suxi Town has developed rapidly, with economic benefits advancing by leaps and bounds and increasing significantly year by year. In 2008, the planting area reached more than 2,000 mu.

In order to broaden the channels to prosperity, Lei Hongwei, after many study trips and inspections elsewhere, together with the village committee team, conducted in-depth investigations and research and carried out extensive discussions. They introduced a flower and nursery stock planting project of more than 50 mu, and through the demonstration of good economic returns, drove more than 10 farming households to participate. The healthy and rapid development of the industry adds luster to the construction of beautiful villages and provides an endless source of momentum for the sound and rapid development of Suxi Village and even the entire town.

Innovation-Driven, Advancing Economic Development

In 2009, Lei Hongwei established the Lily Planting Farmers' Professional Cooperative, which won strong support and trust from the common people. With its "base + farmers" business model, it developed 156 cooperative members, with a base scale planting area of more than 2,000 mu, and a town-wide covered planting area of more than 5,000 mu, achieving a lily output value of more than 80 million yuan. It helped more than 150 impoverished farming households escape poverty and become prosperous, absorbed more than 100 surplus rural laborers each year, and paid out several million yuan in wages.

In order to further improve the industry's operating mechanism and strive to create and build its own brand products, in 2011 Lei Hongwei registered the "Xinhe" trademark for a series of lily products, striving to raise the products' visibility and promote the Suxi lily industry in forming an integrated development channel of planting, production, and sales, making the industry one of the pillar industries of Suxi Town.

In 2013, the cooperative invested more than 2 million yuan on the original foundation to build a Lily Hall and a lily deep-processing factory, among which series products such as beautifully packaged gift-boxed pollution-free dried lilies and lily powder are deeply welcomed by consumers. At the same time, the cooperative gives play to the vanguard and exemplary role of Party members and establishes a "Three Haves" field Party branch, with Lei Hongwei serving as branch secretary, allowing the masses to feel that the Party organization has a stage, Party members have a front desk for helping and supporting, and the masses have backing for becoming prosperous. It always insists on building Party lessons in the fields, keeping notes in the fields, and having cooperative members teach and support in the fields, taking the lead in helping and supporting impoverished households. "When the common people are moved in their hearts, I feel that much more comforted; when the masses become prosperous, I am happy too," said Lei Hongwei.

Under the dazzling halo of honor, Lei Hongwei is neither arrogant nor impetuous, and remains modest and prudent. He well knows that one should strive for further progress even at the top of a hundred-foot pole. Therefore, Lei Hongwei's efforts have also been recognized by the whole village. In the 2014 village-level election, Lei Hongwei was once again elected village director with 100% of the votes in favor. He expressed that he is full of confidence and determination for the future development of Suxi Village.