Chen Yunlian Cultivates Farmer’s Wealth

Although Chen Yunlian is one of the nation’s top 10 female farmers, she is more widely known by her nickname “Chen Lajiao (Pepper Chen).”

Chen was born in Yushu city’s Tai’an village, Jilin Province, a town famous in China for soybean. To overcome poverty, Chen studied the technology of cultivating pepper in Heilongjiang Province in 1985. In the same year, she grew 2.8 mu (0.47 acres) of peppers and earned even more by growing a further 1 hectare (2.5 acres) of maize.

Chen did not forget her fellow villagers. She passed on her knowledge of technology and gave them pepper seeds and fertilizer. All the 75 families in her village started to grow peppers and within two years Chen’s nickname had spread throughout the region.

As a farmer and Party member, Chen understood her responsibility. She said Party members should lead in developing productivity. With the help of the Party and the Women’s Federation, Chen invested 400,000 yuan (US$48,268) to set up the Yunlian Pepper Company in 1995, which combines production, training and services and generates more 500,000 yuan (US$60,335) per year. In 1999, Chen and the Women’s Federation jointly built Jilin Shuanglian Economic and Trade Co., Ltd. The company contracted 150 hectares (375 acres) of maize fields and produced quick-frozen maize. She then took charge of alleviating poverty in Jilin Province. In barren Salinas, Chen and her workmates drilled wells, planted trees, raised bulls and grew peppers. In two years, villagers there not only got rich, but opened their minds.

Chen attended the 15th National Congress of the Communist Party of China as the only female farmer delegate from Jilin Province in 1997. During the Congress, the film Xilian was shown in Beijing. Chen was introduced to public in the premiere as the film’s prototype heroine.

Elected again as a National Congress delegate, Chen said she will work harder to lead farmers in getting rich and contribute even more to rural economic development.

Serving the People Is the Best Thing

Jiang Zhimin, a female delegate for the 16th CPC National Congress, has been a policewoman for 33 years since choosing the job at just 17.

As a policewoman at the Huangwa Street Station in Chengdu, capital city of southeast Sichuan Province, Jiang Zhimin devotes a lot of her spare time to helping the residents in her local community. She genuinely enjoys solving problems for the masses and she regards it as the best thing in the world.

The 10,000 people, making up 2,900 families, with in her area all know that Jiang Zhimin can settle everything for you no matter what difficulty you face.

A 30-year-old lady Xiao Fan used to indulge in drugs after her marriage broke up. Several years of drug taking left her well-off family penniless. Finally, she could not even afford the cost of giving up drugs.

When Jiang got wind of the situation, she went and visited Xiao and encouraged her to face up to her problem. Then she talked with Xiao Fan’s family and they all decided to send her to a drug rehabilitation center. Today, Xiao Fan has successfully quit drugs and found herself a new job. Whenever she meets someone, she can’t help but say, “It was Aunty Jiang who saved me and my family. I would have died long ago if it wasn’t for Jiang.”

Unlike other senior citizens who enjoy the comforts of family love, 80-year Grandma Wang still had to worry about her only son, who had been sentenced 10 years in prison for fraud. To makes things worse, he rejected reeducation and was in a very depressed mood at the beginning of his term.

Again, Jiang went to Grandma Wang. She arranged for some local residents to care for Grandma Wang. At the same time, she kept writing letters to Wang’s son, telling him of his mother’s life and developments in his hometown, encouraging him to serve good time so as to get an early release.

With Jiang’s help, Yang rebuilt his confidence for life. He has started doing well in prison and has already had his sentence reduced twice.

Fair-minded Judge Satisfies All People

In the Yulin City, south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, local people all praise Pan Jingkui, a delegate of the 16th CPC National Congress and Yulin Intermediate People’s Court judge, as a fair-minded adjudicator who satisfies all people.

In a land rights dispute case between two villagers over the use of a ditch the conflict was so enormous that Feng Guizhong, defendant in the case, gathered dozens of people in front of the court to claim that they would fight for their rights if they considered the judge’s decision to be unfair. In order to make clear sense of the case, Pan Jingkui and her colleagues immediately investigated the scene and summoned both the parties to the court. In the end, an impartial judgment prevented a potential mêlée from breaking out.

Feng Guizhong, a villager from the town of Rendong in Yulin’s Yuzhou District, said: “We were all satisfied with the decision made by presiding judge Pan. Everybody thought the verdict was fair and just.”

From the economic court to the court of “supervision and review,” Pan Jingkui made no mistakes presiding over hundreds of cases. In order to make the process of adjudication clear to all parties concerned, Pan and her colleagues bravely revolutionized the practices surrounding the hearing of witnesses. Pan allows for both parties to have enough time and sufficient opportunities to present evidence. This has enabled some cases of appeal to be settled with a minimum of fuss.

Pan said: “I am proud to have been selected as a delegate for the 16th CPC National Congress. I regard it as an honor and an inspiration to continue with my practices. I will donate my life to the cause of great trials.”

(China.org.cn November 13, 2002)