The spirit that lifted a town

Since late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping initiated the market-oriented economic reforms in 1978, China's economy has skyrocketed to become the second largest in the world.

But unbalanced development continues to be a challenge.

Guizhou province in Southwest China is an example of the increasing disparity between the affluent east and the impoverished west.

Relatively underdeveloped, Guizhou's nominal GDP for 2012 was 680 billion yuan ($108 billion) and its per capita GDP of 19,556 yuan ranked last in China.

But Maotai town in the province has a different story to tell.

Maotai is one of the 19 towns under the jurisdiction of Renhuai city. The home of premium liquor brand Kweichow Moutai, it has flourished because of the liquor industry, which accounts for more than 90 percent of local financial income. It has also given a boost to the packaging and logistics industries.

The industry has helped entire families earn their livelihoods. Mei Xin, 38, works at one of the units where alcohol is mixed and his wife also works in the logistics department.

Wang Hong, 40, said that three generations of his family work in the industry. According to Wang, Maotai town was impoverished earlier, but now thanks to the brand Moutai, it has become more developed.

Hu Jingshi, a 63-year-old historian for the brand Moutai, said when the Red Army passed the town during the Long March in 1935 his grandmother used local liquor to treat the wounds of injured soldiers.

Hu said during recent decades, Moutai changed from a mere workshop to a huge brand. In 1951, only 39 people were employed. Today about 20,000 work for the brand.

In 1957, Chairman Mao Zedong set a target of 10,000 tons of liquor production from Moutai. Currently, the output is 40,000 tons a year.

The liquor has actually changed the development scene in Maotai town as well as adjacent Renhuai city.

According to Zhang Jiebo, deputy Party chief of Maotai town, the provincial government is now trying to use the reputation and influence of the famed liquor to boost the local tourism industry.

In 2012, it invested 23.5 million yuan to develop 64 tourism-related projects, all of them now underway. Last year, the local tourism industry generated some 44.7 million yuan in revenue.

Other economic benefits are the result of the area's high-quality water and sorghum.

More than 13,000 hectares of sorghum is under cultivation in the town, while in Renhuai city 158 villages grow the grain.

Because sorghum is a weather-resistant crop with stable demand from Moutai, it brings higher benefits to farmers than other crops. In a worst case scenario, even if harvests fail, Moutai has promised compensation to farmers.

According to 55-year-old farmer Tong Hu, his switch to growing sorghum has enabled him to ensure a college education for all three of his children.

The author is an associate fellow at the Observer Research Foundation in India

(China Daily 03/09/2015 page7)