Nothing to do

Apart from growing produce, many villagers in Xiaogang have nothing to do but watch TV, play mahjong and chat. That's especially true of those in their late 40s and 50s. Because of the world financial crisis, it's even hard for young villagers to find a job in the city, Chen said.

"We need investment, technology, talent and so on to open factories, which keep us busy," she said.

Taking finance as an example, a report by the prestigious Tsinghua University showed that China has at least 120 million farmers who need loans, but only 60 percent are able to obtain financing. The situation is worse for small rural enterprises, with only 50 percent able to get the loans they need.

Farmers have long been neglected by China's banks because of the higher risks of lending to them, compounded by greater operating costs and lower returns.

Traditionally, rural borrowers could only obtain loans, usually of less than 5,000 yuan, from the Postal Savings Bank and local cooperatives. As for talent, many young graduates want to work in coastal cities, such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

Fortunately, China is realizing the problems and taking measures to channel more investment and educated talent into rural areas.

"Xiaogang is like most villages in central China: poor infrastructure, far from big cities, villagers lacking a proper education," said a rural expert Zuo Yuliang.

Xiaogang has a better chance to get investment and talent since it's famous as the land reform's starter. Whether other villages will have similar success is still unclear.

(Xinhua News Agency December 13, 2008)