Chinese Agency Report on Premier Wen Jiabao’s Inspection Tour of Ningxia
Text of report by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency); subheadings as received
[By staff reporters Zhao Cheng and Wang Cunli: "Affectionate Care, Ardent Expectations - Travel Notes on Premier Wen Jiabao's Inspection Tour of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region"]
Yinchuan, 17 Aug (Xinhua) – On the eve of the 50th anniversary of the founding of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Wen Jiabao, member of the Standing Committee of the CCP Central Committee Political Bureau and premier of the State Council, visited factories, enterprises, farmland, and residents in Ningxia to cordially convey his greetings to the cadres and masses of various nationalities and to discuss plans for Ningxia’s future development with them.
“Build a First-Class Industrial Base That Meets the Requirements of Scientific Development Concept”
Wen Jiabao is very solicitous about Ningxia’s development and has inspected Ningxia and given guidance to its work on many occasions. In September last year, he instructed the State Council agencies to set up 17 ad hoc groups and send them to Ningxia for investigation and study. They presented guidance opinions and recommended policy measures for Ningxia’s economic and social development.
Ningxia boasts unique energy advantages, with abundant coal resources and good transportation access. Ningdong Energy and Chemicals Base is an important growth pole for Ningxia’s economic development. On the morning of 15 August, Wen Jiabao came here by car as soon as he got off the plane. He inspected the progress of the 250,000-tonne coal-based methanol and olefin project of Shenhua Ningxia Coal Industry Group. At the construction site, Wen Jiabao said to the workers and engineers: Here, we not only want to build a base for coal-based chemicals, coal, and electric power, but more importantly, we want to build a base of recycling economy that meets the requirements of the scientific development concept. This is an important indicator of the path of new-type industrialization. He encouraged the numerous constructors to innovate boldly and strengthen management. Not only should they achieve first-rate quality, technology, and efficiency; they should also excel in conservation and intensive utilization and, in particular, set store by water conservation.
On the afternoon of 15 August, Wen Jiabao came to China Nonferrous Metals (Ningxia) Dongfang Group, based in Shizuishan City. He inspected the workshops that manufacture tantalum powder and tantalum wire. Spurring the workers on, he said: Yours is an old enterprise, but also a sunrise enterprise. Your products are widely used in high-technology fields, such as electronics, metallurgy, chemicals, and aerospace. The cause you are involved in has bright prospects. When he heard that many of the enterprise’s old experts had been working for decades and had dedicated their whole life to the country’s new-generation metallurgical materials industry, Wen Jiabao instructed the management of the enterprise to make sure that the old experts be well looked after and that young talent be well nurtured.
Shizuishan City was a coal production base designated for priority development by the state in the 1950s. On the afternoon of 15 August, Wen Jiabao walked into Jinlin Estate, a newly built community for residents from subsided areas, and saw green lawns and brand-new buildings standing in tidy rows. In the home of Zhang Jincheng, Wen Jiabao said: I have not been able to clear my mind of cares and worries about the redevelopment of the areas that have subsided from coalmining and the shantytown. We should work on the improvement of the miners’ living conditions as a matter of urgency in a planned way with determination. Zhang Jincheng, an old man, started working in the coalmine in 1958. He used to live in a mining subsidence area. The house had cracks and could not drain rainwater. He had only just moved into the new house in April this year. In high spirits, he showed the premier around his bedroom and kitchen and then told him that his pension was more than 1,400 yuan per month, after four increases over the past few years, and he now had a very pleasant life. A delighted premier said: We can set our mind at rest when you are properly provided for!
“Not Only Change the Ecological Environment, But Also Make the Peasants Rich”
The mighty Yellow River brings wealth to Ningxia. The areas in northern Ningxia that are irrigated with water diverted from the Yellow River have flat terrain and fertile soil. It has always been known as the “Jiangnan [areas that lie south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River] beyond the Great Wall.” Hongguang Town of Helan County situated in this region is a commodity grain production base. The villagers have organized themselves and set up a specialized cooperative of their own accord. On 15 August, Wen Jiabao came here. The paddy fields, undulating with green rice plants, stretched to the horizons. Squatting on a ridge, he chatted with the peasants about rice cultivation, management, and marketing. Gui Huaijun, who was in charge of the specialized cooperative, told the premier that through consolidated soil preparation, consolidated seed supply, consolidated seedling nursing, consolidated seedling transplant, consolidated technical service, consolidated harvest, and consolidated purchase, the earnings per mu had been increased by over 300 yuan. Wen Jiabao said: You have achieved what individual households cannot achieve through specialized collaboration. This is a good approach to helping peasants become rich.
Ningxia’s Xihaigu region suffers from water shortage and droughts. It has a very hostile ecological environment. Historically, it gained notoriety for being “the most barren place on earth.” Over a decade ago, Wen Jiabao conducted detailed investigation and study on this place. The development of this region has always been on his mind. Early in the morning on 16 August, Wen Jiabao came to Baiyang Town, Pengyang County, Guyuan City, to inspect the progress of comprehensive improvement of the small basin of Dagouwan. After twisting and turning along the mountain path, he came to the top of the mountain, 1,600 meters above sea level. It was shrouded in a haze and looked onto meandering mountain ranges and a thousand and one gullies and ravines. Thanks to the persistent and unremitting efforts of the local cadres and masses, the area for comprehensive improvement had become a scene of “vegetation capping the top of the mountain, terraced fields girdling the side of the mountain, and reservoirs and dams in the valley putting boots on the foot of the mountain.” Taking the expansive greenery in, Wen Jiabao said: To improve the ecological environment, one must have the determination to “draw the blueprint to the end” and, at the same time, keep enriching the blueprint with new substance. It is necessary to make the comprehensive improvement of mountain-waterway-vegetation and forest- field-road a success, with generation after generation of people working on it, change the ecological environment, and eventually make the peasants rich.
Afterward, Wen Jiabao went on to visit the installation agriculture base in Zhougou Village. This year, the villagers had built 1,800 mu of movable plastic greenhouses and 600 mu of solar greenhouses, opening up new possibilities for attaining prosperity. Wen Jiabao inspected the progress of the construction of plastic greenhouses and asked detailed questions about the prices and sales situation on the vegetable market. He instructed the local comrades in charge to make sure that issues concerning preliminary investment and water use for the development of installation agriculture be properly addressed.
Xiji County, situated in an alpine cold area, is blessed with abundant sunshine and is suitable for growing potatoes. At the potato cultivation base, Wen Jiabao made detailed inquiries about the cultivation process from seed cultivation in vitro to the cultivation of breeder seeds, foundation seeds, and Category 1 seeds. With the help of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the detoxified potatoes cultivated by this base are characterized by high yield and good quality. Across the county, 1.23 million mu of land is sown to potatoes, accounting for half of its cultivated land. One third of the peasant income comes from growing potatoes. The potato industry has become a pillar industry and get-rich industry in a true sense. Wen Jiabao said to the researchers: “Potatoes are small, but the industry is big.” They should continue to strengthen scientific research, enlarge the scale of the potato industry, and do more for the peasants to help them get rich.
“The Party and the Government Will Definitely Not Forget You”
In the 50-year history of Ningxia’s construction, there have been countless people from all corners of the land lending their support for the region’s development. They have worked side by side with the people of Ningxia and dedicated their precious youth to this land of passion.
On the evening of 15 August, Wen Jiabao came to Xingguanghua Estate in Yinchuan City to visit the residents. The premier’s visit gave Li Ningwei and his family a pleasant surprise. Walking on a pair of crutches, Li Ningwei greeted the premier and showed him to the sofa to sit down. He contracted poliomyelitis when he was 18 months old, which caused problem to the use of his lower limbs. Will is tempered through tribulations. Through hard work, Li Ningwei is the three-time swimming champion at the National Games for the Disabled. He is currently chairman of the Ningxia Association for the Physically Disabled Persons. He told the premier that in a few days’ time, he would be attending the Beijing Paralympics as a special guest. Li Ningwei’s mother is a martial arts coach. She moved here from Tianjin soon after the autonomous region was founded and has been working here for 50 years. She is now in her 60s and has many children and grandchildren. Wen Jiabao said: You have done your part for the development of Ningxia, including sports development.
On the afternoon of 16 August, Wen Jiabao came to the staff quarters of the No 1 Secondary School of Guyuan City to visit retired teacher Sui Xiuhua and her husband. The couple came to Guyuan from Shanghai in 1956 in the assist-the-frontier campaign. At that time, they were a couple of young people at life’s full flowering, teaching in the local school. Fifty-two years on, their pupils are all over the country, while they themselves have become hoary-headed seniors. Sui Xiuhua used “astounding” to describe the changes over the past five decades. She said: When I first came here, the school was dilapidated and all the classrooms were “unlit rooms with blocks of earth.” Today, the school is spacious and beautiful. Distance learning enables the children in the mountains to access high-quality educational resources. We thank the good policy of the party and the government! Wen Jiabao said to her: We must bear in mind these two statements: One, the future of the country lies in education and in children. Making education affordable for children and giving them proper education is a basic task of social development. Two, social equity is, before anything, equity of education. Only when children have equal opportunity for education can they have a bright future and hope.
Sui Xiuhua took out some old photos and recalled the past with the premier. Wen Jiabao commented with emotion: Your generation has given all your life to the cause of education in Ningxia. Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region will soon be celebrating its 50th anniversary. When we mark this occasion in grand ceremony, we will certainly thank people like you who have come from all over the country to help Ningxia selflessly. The people of Ningxia will not forget you; the party and the government will not forget you. On hearing that, Sui Xiuhua said emotionally: We have no regrets about the choice we made at that time!
“Hui and Han Masses Are All Brothers”
During his inspection tour, Wen Jiabao made a last-minute change to his itinerary and drove over 100 kilometres to pay a special visit to the Seventh Group of Wanya Village, Xiji County. He called on the 70 Hui households in the village that was built next to a mountain. With villagers as his guides, Wen Jiabao took a close look at the appearance of the village. The premier was delighted to see that many villagers had built brick-and-tile houses with clean and tidy courtyards. Sitting on the sofa inside villager Huang Shengxiu’s home, Wen Jiabao held the old man’s grandson in his arms, as he would his own grandson. He conversed in earnest with Huang Shengxiu about the habits and etiquettes of the Hui people and asked detailed questions about the old man’s life. Huang Shengxiu told the premier that his six-member family was farming over 20 mu of dry farmland and five mu of paddy fields; apricot trees and peach trees were grown on the three-mu land from the farmland reforestation programme; his son also had an additional income by working as a labourer elsewhere. The family’s life was excellent! The only problem was the difficulty in accessing drinking water. The reservoir in front of the village had dried up long before and wells had to be 400-meter deep in order to produce water.
On hearing the news that the premier had come to their small mountain village, the villagers came out and crowded around the premier. Wen Jiabao affectionately greeted them and started chatting about domestic trivia with them. Speaking of education for their children, the villagers had some good news for the premier: This year, one of the kids from this village earned a place at Jilin Medical University and became the village’s first ever university student. Wen Jiabao said: You had one this year; you will have two next year; you will have more in the future. Congratulations! The villagers laughed happily. This village has a primary school, where Hui and Han children study together. When he heard that, Wen Jiabao said: If Hui and Han children grow up together from a young age, they can better unite with each other. This is excellent! Wen Jiabao kept saying to the crowd: It is not easy for me to come here. Are there any more difficulties that need addressing? The villagers replied politely that they had no other difficulties. Pointing at a dried-up reservoir on the other side, Wen Jiabao said: I know you have one difficulty, the difficulty in obtaining drinking water. You have a lot of land, but not enough water here. The drought has been particularly bad this year. Please rest assured that the government will help you solve this problem.
Looking at the guileless faces of the villagers, an emotional Wen Jiabao said: I have come here specifically to visit the masses of the Hui nationality. Some of you here are older than me and some are younger. We are all brothers. His words were immediately followed by enthusiastic applause. At parting, the premier proposed: Come, let’s pose for a photo together! Standing on a slope in the village, against the backdrop of lush potato fields, the premier and everyone else beamed with joy. Click! As the camera shutter was pressed, the beautiful moment of communion between the premier and the Hui people was recorded.
On the morning of 17 August, Wen Jiabao paid a special visit to the time-honoured Najiahu Mosque in Yinchuan. He called on the religious personalities and the masses of the Hui nationality and conversed cordially with them.
Originally published by Xinhua news agency domestic service, Beijing, in Chinese 1144 17 Aug 08.
(c) 2008 BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.