Wang Ying, a deputy to the 14th NPC and secretary of the Party branch of Shijiazi, a village in Mutouchengzi, a town in Chaoyang, a city in Northeast China's Liaoning Province [Xinhua/Yang Qing]

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, China's rural reform has kept pace with the times. Advancing rural revitalization across the board is a crucial task for building China's strength in agriculture, in the new era. The countryside has provided fertile ground for capable young people to start their agricultural businesses. The young talents have taken root in the countryside, and they have become a new breed of farmer. Wang Ying, who has established her own brand of agricultural products, and who has led villagers in achieving prosperity, is a role model for the "new farmers." 

Wang was born in Shijiazi, a remote village in Chaoyang, in 1992. In 2014, after she graduated from Jilin University (in Changchun, capital of Northeast China's Jilin Province), she gave up an opportunity to work in the big city. With her father's encouragement, she returned to her village to start her own business. At that time, she set goals for herself — helping villagers plant high-quality agricultural products, which could fetch good prices, and establishing her own agricultural-product brand. 

"After I returned to the village, I was busy all day long. I learned about the village's specialties, and I thought about how to advertise the agricultural products online. I also promoted the concept of e-commerce to villagers," recalls Wang. In July 2015, she established an e-commerce company, and the "Village Girl in City" brand. Since then, she has used e-commerce platforms to promote agricultural products from her hometown. 

In 2017, Wang established a land shareholding cooperative in the village. Two years later, she established a vegetable and fruit cooperative. During the past few years, she has led the villagers in cultivating green agricultural products, such as crops, sunflowers, grapes and apples. She has also established processing workshops, to produce wheat flour and sunflower seed oil. 

In recent years, Wang has assisted the village's Party branch in leading the villagers in achieving prosperity. Her company and cooperatives have helped more than 500 farmers increase their incomes, by cultivating high-quality agricultural products, and they have provided jobs to more than 200 rural residents and university graduates. 

Since 2020, when she was elected secretary of the village's Party branch, Wang has devoted herself to improving villagers' lives. "I hope to make mobile phones become farmers' new ‘farm tools,' make livestreaming (to promote and sell agricultural products) become their new ‘farm work,' and help more university graduates become ‘new farmers,'" says Wang. In 2021, she was selected one of China's Top 10 Farmers. 

As a deputy to the 14th NPC, Wang is aware she shoulders the great responsibility of taking root in the countryside and boosting rural revitalization. She has made more efforts to help farmers change their traditional methods of producing and selling agricultural products, and to attract young people, especially university graduates, to do their bit to promote rural revitalization. 

Shijiazi is close to Nailingao Station, along the Beijing-Harbin (capital of Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province) high-speed railway line, which officially went into operation in 2021. Given the village's geographical advantage, Wang came up with the idea of promoting rural revitalization by leading villagers in developing rural tourism, improving the ecological environment, and rebuilding their houses into beautiful inns. 

"I'll make greater efforts to build our village into a beautiful, prosperous home for the villagers, and to help young people realize their dreams in the countryside," says Wang. 

Sources: Xinhua and Liaoning Daily

(Women of China English Monthly December 2023)