Editor’s Note: The third session of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the third session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) started in Beijing on 21 and 22 May 2020 respectively.
The OUC News Network will continue to publicise and report deputies and members to the two sessions who are leaders, teachers, and students of the organisation system of the Open University of China (OUC), along with their suggestions and motions in the column “Two Sessions Deputies and Members from the OUC.” Through this column we hope to manifest the spirit of the OUC in this current era and its missions and responsibilities, to establish university’s place in society, to encourage teachers and students to strive for excellence, and to create a mighty force for the reform and development of open education.
Introduction to the CPPCC member
Liu Yonghao from Chengdu graduated in electronics from the Sichuan Branch class of 1979. He is a senior engineer and acts as board chairman of New Hope Group, chairman of New Hope Investment Co., Ltd, president of New Hope Group Co., Ltd, chairman of Sichuan New Hope Agriculture Co., Ltd, chairman of Shandong Liuhe Co., Ltd, supervisor of Minsheng Life Insurance Co., Ltd, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), and deputy director of Economic Committee of the CPPCC. He has served as a member of the standing committee of the CPPCC, vice president of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, and vice chairperson of the China Society for Promotion of the Guangcai Programme (GSPGP), among others. From December 1995 to July 2006, he was vice chairman of China Minsheng Banking Corp Ltd. As of 6 April 2020, Liu Yonghan and his family, worth more than CNY 105 billion , ranked 70th on the Hurun Global Top 100 Rich List of the world's wealthiest entrepreneurs.
Profile of the CPPCC member
More than 80 industrial poverty alleviation projects have been carried out nationwide with over 10,000 beneficiaries. Over the course of three years, more than 40,000 farmers have been trained offline, helping them to unlock new skills for the new era. Along the way, New Hope Group has firmly adhered to the goal of poverty alleviation for 26 years.
2020 is a key year in securing a decisive victory for poverty alleviation. Liu Yonghao, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in Sichuan and chairman of New Hope Group, said that New Hope Group is confident that it will achieve “good marks” in this year of decisive success. “China is entering the era of digital agriculture and a blueprint for rural revitalisations is unfolding. Rural areas will be a field of hope. In 2020, New Hope Group will continue to play the role of a leader in the field of agriculture, guiding all the farmers to prosperity!”
“Where now high-rise buildings stand was once a patch of wasteland!”
“When completed, Xichang Hope Feed became the first modern, standardised processing company for agricultural and sideline products in the Panzhihua and Xichang region.”
On 19 May, Xie Jie, general manager of New Hope Liuhe Liangshan Xinliu Breeding Co., Ltd, invited a reporter from Chengdu to have a look around the company. He said, “In the past, the surroundings were a patch of wasteland, but now you see high-rise buildings! I am really impressed by the changes here.”
Early in 1994, New Hope Group built the first Guangcai programme (“guangcai” meaning glorious or honourable cause in English) poverty reduction factory in Xichang City of Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture. This was New Hope Xichang Feed Company. Xie Jie came to Liangshan when he graduated in 1995 and has been working here ever since.
As one of Sichuan’s first entrepreneurs, a member of the CPPCC National Committee in Sichuan, and chairman of New Hope Group, Liu Yonghao has never stopped making contributions to national poverty alleviation over the past few decades. He said, “I was one of the leaders who launched the Guangcai programme. It has been 26 years since I took the lead in getting private enterprises engaged in poverty alleviation by building factories to eradicate poverty in former revolutionary base areas, areas inhabited by minority nationalities, remote and border areas, and poverty-stricken areas.”
“At that time they could never have believed that pigs could be bred this way!”
New Hope Group’s model of poverty relief in Liangshan Prefecture has been continually upgraded.
Recalling the time when the pig breeding targeted poverty alleviation project was launched by New Hope Liuhe in Yuejin Village, Heboluo Township, Xide County in 2017, Xie Jie said, “When we built the pig farm, the local government authorities could not believe that pigs could be bred in this way, let alone the ordinary people!”
In the past, Liangshan was less developed in terms of breeding technology. As far as the eye could see, there were usually only a few pigs scattered around the mountainsides. “Over the years, we have given a great deal of technical training.” For over two decades, Xie Jie has witnessed every little bit of progress New Hope Xichang Feed Company has made in leading the local farmers towards prosperity by way of fine breeding, shifting from extensive to intensive development. “Now, modern, standard, and efficient environmentally-friendly local breeding enterprises have been established.”
Following the completion of pig farms, New Hope has also sent professional management staff members to help with poverty relief on the farms. Now, pig breeding has become a major local industry, and the formerly remote and backward Yuejin Village successfully eliminated poverty in 2019.
From Sichuan to Guizhou and Shanxi, today, New Hope has more than 80 poverty alleviation industrial projects in operation nationwide, creating endless value for the local people.
“This year marks a sprint and all the more a brand new start!”
During the two sessions, Liu Yonghao was focused on the key phrase “poverty alleviation.” He submitted a proposal title “Make preparations to connect poverty alleviation industries with rural revitalization and establish an integrated urban-rural poverty alleviation guarantee system.” He said, “This proposal focuses on adaptation to new mechanisms and new approaches after the elimination of absolute poverty, including how to give targeted assistance to people impoverished or returned to poverty because of disease or disaster.”
According to Liu Yonghao, this year will be a sprint and a brand new start for poverty alleviation. He said, “After absolute poverty is eradicated, there will still be relative poverty, especially in remote rural areas. We have to seize the day around the development of modern agriculture and we still have a lot to do this year.”
By OUC News Network, reprinted from Sichuan Observation