Interpreting the No. 1 Central Document: Starting from Ziyang's labor service economy

In 1982, in the early 1980s, the central government issued the epoch-making first No. 1 Document on the "three rural issues," the "Minutes of Our Country's Rural Work Conference," which fully affirmed the household contract responsibility system in rural areas. At the same time, in Ziyang's "Doucheng," "back-basket" carriers and nannies going to the provincial capital Xi'an appeared (what are now called surplus rural labor), and they were the first group of beneficiaries of the central government's No. 1 Document. Later, following that strong Sichuan accent along the rolling tide of railways, they joined the "working crowd" and the "migrant worker wave," heading south in a mighty army to bathe in the first spring rain of the southern Guangdong land. In January 1989, the CPC Ziyang County Committee also issued its first No. 1 Document, "Decision on Strengthening Labor Export," telling farmers: "To escape poverty, go out the door." Ziyang people thus became the first in an inland province to organize the transfer of surplus labor to the southeast coastal cities, becoming those who dared to "eat crab." At the turn of the century, the national Seven-Year Priority Poverty Alleviation Program implemented in Ziyang the two major projects of "World Bank loan labor export" and "promoting employment in western development." The county party committee and county government seized the historical opportunity of using foreign-capital projects to develop and transfer labor from poor mountainous areas, and proposed the strategic goal of transferring 70% of labor to non-agricultural sectors, "innovating paths for big employment, grasping labor services with bold moves," from "going out" to open markets and rights-protection services to "inviting in" by holding large-scale labor recruitment fairs and other major measures, carrying out development-oriented poverty alleviation for farmers. In 2005, 83,700 person-times were transferred into employment, economic income exceeded 400 million yuan, the per capita wage income of farmers from labor services was above 1,000 yuan, accounting for 63.8% of the average annual net income of farmers, with per capita income increasing by 500 yuan. Among the three leading industries of labor services, tea and mulberry, and animal husbandry, the labor service economy accounted for 2/3. For five consecutive years it was rated by the provincial government as an advanced county in labor export and was among the first batch of national key demonstration counties for labor export. It was praised as the "labor feast of crab-eaters."

The new-type farmers of "phoenixes returning to the nest" building a new Ziyang countryside

Entering the new century, in 2004 the central government issued its first No. 1 Document aimed at promoting agricultural income growth, and Ziyang proposed the strategic approach of "stabilizing quantity, guaranteeing quality, and raising the gold content of the labor service economy." Closely centering on the spirit of the No. 1 Central Document, it took developing the labor service economy as the main channel for increasing farmers' income and fostered a large number of large labor industry households with market economy sense, management ability, and a certain amount of accumulated capital. At that time, the county had 248 households with more than 100,000 yuan, including 66 households with more than 1 million yuan and 8 households with more than 10 million yuan, and the accumulated funds of capable large households exceeded 200 million yuan. The massive return of these accumulated funds laid a solid foundation for accelerating infrastructure and public welfare construction, developing rural leading industries, and later implementing several No. 1 Documents of the central government on building a new countryside and modern agriculture. Qiu Shuangzan of Haoping Town invested more than 8 million yuan successively to build a "well-off road" and a "wealth bridge," and to build a farmers' market, solving the vegetable-buying difficulty of more than 3,000 people in the town, creating more than 100 jobs, and driving more than 300 laborers into employment, thereby accelerating the urbanization pace of Ziyang's northern gateway. While labor export brought back large amounts of capital to Ziyang, it also produced large numbers of new-type farmers with new thinking, new concepts, and new technologies to build a new countryside. Chen Bangqiang, Wang Laowu, Yi Daifu, and others from Lianhe Township raised funds on their own and initiated the county's first farmers' sports meet in that township. The county's four major leadership teams attended to cheer them on, and migrant workers from Sichuan and Henan also came to participate in this sports meet. Important media at the central, provincial, and municipal levels successively reported the typical deeds of this generation of new-type farmers, becoming Ziyang people to appear in People's Daily for the first time and once again "eating crab."

From a migrant worker who "washed his feet" in the city to a chairman who started a business through "foot care"

How to interpret the No. 1 Central Document issued by the central government this year? The author made an interesting comparison. In 2005, the average annual net income of Ziyang farmers was 1,669 yuan, only 51.1% of the national 3,255 yuan in the same period. That year Ziyang exported 80,000 person-times and generated 400 million yuan in income, accounting for 50% of the total agricultural output value of 800 million yuan and 1/3 of the county's gross domestic product of 1.17 billion yuan. The per capita wage income of farmers exceeded 1,000 yuan, accounting for 63.8% of annual net income, 27.8 percentage points higher than the national per capita wage income of farmers at 36.0%. A farmer's annual net income from growing grain was 460 yuan, while Ziyang's annual labor income from working away from home was 5,000 yuan. Less than 10 years later, in 2013, Ziyang's farmers' net income was about 6,881 yuan, 4.5 times more than in 2005, and wage income was about 4,531 yuan, accounting for 65.8% of net income. In 2013, the national net income of farmers was 8,896 yuan, 2.7 times more than in 2005, with per capita wage income of 4,035 yuan, accounting for 45.3%, nearly 20 percentage points lower than Ziyang farmers' wage income share of 65.8%. The above data show that under the current "double pressure" of slowing economic growth, especially the not-optimistic growth prospects for migrant work income, which makes up the bulk of farmers' income, and rising agricultural production costs "colliding head-on," Ziyang's farmers' income is entering a fast track of economic development. Even more interesting is that in 2014 Ziyang transferred 80,000 rural laborers into employment and generated 1 billion yuan in labor income. With the number of transferred people unchanged from 2005, labor income increased 2.5 times. Migrant workers, one-third of the agricultural population, brought in 50% of economic income, and the labor service economy has consistently supported half of the rural economy, exactly achieving the strategic goal proposed when implementing the No. 1 Central Document that year: "stabilize quantity, guarantee quality, and raise the gold content of the labor service economy." In recent years, Ziyang's decision-makers have adapted to market changes, external labor demand, and the structural characteristics of rural labor replacement, innovated their thinking, and increased vocational and technical education and training, treating this as a basic project to improve workers' quality, increase farmers' income, and benefit people's livelihood. The notice "On Free Vocational Skills Training" issued by the county government office once again told farmers: "Want to get rich, learn a skill," and incorporated vocational skills training into the annual target responsibility assessment. By integrating various training resources and pooling 2 million yuan in training funds, it provided free training to 2,500 people of various types. On the basis of extensive investigation and in-depth research, the county government made pedicure, foot massage, and health preservation a newly emerging industry to increase farmers' income and enrich the people and strengthen the county, and passionately built the "Ziyang pedicurist" brand. From April last year to now, in less than a year, through order-based training, 1,500 "Ziyang pedicurists" were arranged to Shaanxi Zheng Yuanyuan Professional Pedicure Chain Co., Ltd. Zheng Yuanyuan, a mountain boy who did not even finish junior high school and went out to work at 14, started from a street stall and, after several years of hard work, became a "National Honest Entrepreneur" and a leading figure and industry elite in the pedicure, foot massage, and health preservation industry. He is now chairman of Zheng Yuanyuan Professional Pedicure Service Chain Co., Ltd. Its professional pedicure chain stores are spread across the country, reaching more than 620, with more than 5,000 employees. In 2014, gross income reached 600 million, and more than 30 people accumulated funds of more than 10 million yuan. Under his influence, more than 4,000 people from Ziyang have gone out to work in the professional pedicure, foot massage, and health preservation industry, and the annual income from the pedicure industry is 10 times higher than migrant work income in 2015. In Tiefosi Village, Gaoqiao Town, where he is from, nearly 1,000 people work in this industry, accounting for 60% of the total labor force, with each person earning 50,000 yuan a year, becoming a typical "Tiefo phenomenon" in the county's rural economy. Its economic income has become a major highlight of Ziyang's labor service economy, rural economy, and county economy, once again becoming the focus of attention of mainstream media at the central, provincial, and municipal levels such as People's Daily Online, Shaanxi Daily, and Ankang Daily.

Author: Yang Zhigui, Ziyang County Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, Shaanxi Province

Address: Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, opposite the county government, Zifu Road, Ziyang County, Shaanxi Province

Postal code: 725300

Telephone: 15399367499