Makeover of county shows holistic care

When Ma Xuemei first decided to green the barren hills of Changting county in Fujian province more than two decades ago, few people believed anything could grow there. The slopes were bare and the soil was crimson and compacted. Under the scorching summer sun, the exposed ground could reach temperatures of 60 C to 70 C.

Ma was among the first local farmers to contract a section of the mountain, hoping to restore it. What awaited her was not fertile land, but a landscape where every heavy rain erased months of hard work. "The mountain looked lifeless. People said I was wasting my time," she recalled.

As one of the regions in southern China hardest hit by soil erosion, the county had watched decades of deforestation strip its hills bare, leaving farmland degraded, rivers choked with sediment and many rural communities living in poverty.

It was against this backdrop that Xi Jinping made soil erosion control in Changting a long-term priority. During his tenure as a provincial leader in Fujian, he made five fact-finding trips to the county, consistently pressing for stronger efforts to restore its fragile ecology and improve local livelihoods.

In November 1999, while inspecting conservation efforts in Changting, Xi, then serving as the acting governor of Fujian, described soil erosion as a stubborn challenge requiring sustained commitment.

Under his leadership, the restoration project was incorporated into one of Fujian's major livelihood initiatives, bringing unprecedented financial support and policy backing. An annual allocation of 10 million yuan ($1.5 million) was provided by the provincial government, up from the previous allocation of 800,000 yuan.

"The level of support exceeded anything we had imagined," said Zhong Binglin, a former official responsible for soil and water conservation in Changting.

Xi urged local authorities to continue tilting resources toward Changting, "even if we have to lean until our waists bend", he said, recalling a remark that has stayed with him ever since.

In terms of political commitment, sustained support, funding and effective implementation, the support Xi extended to Changting set a precedent for nationwide soil and water conservation and ecological development, Zhong added.

Xi's attention to the county continued in the years that followed. During another inspection in October 2001, he returned to review conservation work, and watered a camphor tree that had been planted the previous year with a donation he had made to support the construction of an ecological park.

Later that month, in a written instruction, Xi called for another eight years of sustained efforts to fundamentally solve Changting's soil erosion problem, and urged that soil and water conservation be incorporated into local economic development planning.

More than a decade later, in 2012, Xi, then China's vice-president, described the county's restoration as having reached "a critical juncture where to move forward is to prevail; to stand still is to fall behind", calling for greater policy support from authorities.

"At every stage, Xi has consistently shown strong care and support, enabling Changting to make steady progress in soil erosion control," said Yue Hui, director of Changting's soil and water conservation center.

Zhong, the former official, said Xi's sustained commitment reflected a governing philosophy that places people's well-being at the center of policymaking.

See Green, page 3