YangFuparticipatesintheBeijingBenz-TsinghuaUniversityAdvancedSeminaronManufacturingEnterprisesandtakesaphotowithalecturerinMayXINHUAOnanormal,temperateJuneFridayinBeijing,thecity’sworkforcecelebratesfollowinganarduousweekatwork.Butforonemanitisaspecialday,becausetodayhewillreunitewithhisfamilyafterseveralweeksofseparation.
“IliveandworkinBeijing,butmyhometownisinShanxiProvincesoIhavetwohomes.Today,Iheadformyhometown.”YangFutoldBeijingReview.
Thisyear,Yangturns40yearsold,havingbeenborninanextraordinaryyearforChinawhenthereformandopening-uppolicywasadopted.
Agoodomen
YangwasborninGejiatunVillage,TianzhenCountyinnorthChina’sShanxiinthesummerof1978.Becauseofthepoorconditions,hisbirthbroughteconomicworriestohisfamilyalongwiththehappyatmosphereusuallygeneratedbythearrivalofachild.
Yet,itwouldtranspirethatwhatthisnewlifebroughtwasnotburdenbutblessedchangeforthefamily.
Inthewinterofthatyear,ahouseholdcontractsystemforagriculturaloutputwasestablishedinXiaogangVillageineastChina’sAnhuiProvince.Soon,aspringbreezecarriedruralreformfromXiaogangaroundthecountry.Bytheendof1983,morethan95percentoffarmersinChinahadimplementedhouseholdcontracts,andmorethan97percentofarablelandwasbeingcultivatedthisway.
“Eversince,lifehasimprovedwithbasicnecessitieslikefoodandclothingprovidedfor.Wecouldalsobegintoamasssomesavings,”Yangrecalled.
In1990,theYangfamilymovedintoaseparateyardwithsixroomsawayfromthecrowdedcommunalwarreninwhichtheyhadlivedin.Lyingonthebigbedofhisnewhomeandthinkingaboutthepast,Yang,then12yearsold,tastedthefruitofreformandopeningupforthefirsttimeandfelttruehappiness.
“Thisisthereasonwhymyparentsnamedmefu(goodfortune)beforeIwenttoprimaryschoolat6,”Yangsaid.
Leavinghome
ForYangitseemedthatlifecontinuedtogetbetterandbetter,untilashadowwascastoverhisfamilywhenhisfatherwasdiagnosedwithasevereillness.Torelievethefinancialburdenplacedonhisfamilybyhisfather’smedicalfees,Yangdroppedoutofschoolandbeganworking.
“Sincetheimplementationofreformandopeningup,themobilityofChina’spopulationhasincreased.Atthesametimeideasbegantochangetoo,andmoreandmoreyoungpeoplebecamewillingtoheadoffonadventurestothebigcityinsearchofopportunities.MymothersupportedmydecisiontogoandfindworkinBeijing,”Yangsaid.In1995,Yanglefthishome-townforthefirsttime.
HelandedhisfirstjobasasalesmanatthegrainbureauofChaoyangDistrict,wherehestayedforsixyears.“Itwasstablework.Thesalarywasalsosteady,”Yangsaid,recallingthesefirstsixyearsinBeijingasfulfilling.
ButasChinaenteredtheyear2000onarapidwaveofdevelopmentdrivenbythemarketeconomy,Yangrealizedthatinthenewmillenniumtheprospectsofstate-ownedgrainenterpriseswouldnotbesopromising.Hequitthebureauandusedallhismoneytostarthisownbusiness.
Startupland
“Usingafashionableterm,itwasakindof‘startup’,”Yangsaidreferringtothelaunchofhisownbusiness.“Themarketwasmuchmorecomplicatedthanmyimagination,”headdedwithawrysmile.
Withhisbusinessfacingdifficulties,Yangturnedtotheskillshehadtaughthimselfinhistimeatthegrainbureau,andtookonextraworkinstallingelectricalequipment.AnothersixyearsquicklyflewbyandYanggotmarried.
Duringthistime,theChinesemarketwasopenedfurthertotheoutsideworldasthecountryjoinedtheWorldTradeOrganization.Foreigncompanieswereincreasinglyinfluencedbytheirpeers,whohadmadelargeprofitsbyenteringtheChinesemarketattheinitialstagesofreformandopeningup,andmanydecidedtoconductbusinessandinvestinChina.
InAugust2005,BeijingBenz-DaimlerChryslerAutomobileCo.Ltd.wasestablishedbyDaimlerAG,DaimlerChrysler(China)InvestmentCo.Ltd.andBeijingAutomobileIndustryHoldingCo.Ltd.Twoyearslater,thecompanyofficiallychangeditsnametoBeijingBenzAutomobileCo.Ltd.Inthesameyear,followingarecommendationfromafriend,Yangwasrecruitedbythecompanyandbecameanautomobilemanufacturer.
“Itwasagoodera.Reformandopeninguphadnotonlysolvedbasiclivingproblemsbutalsocreatedalotofjobopportunities.”Yangsaid.
AtBeijingBenz,Yangmadehiswayupstepbystep,fromalow-levelproductionlineworkertoatechnician.By2013,anothersixyearshadpassedandYangdecidedtobuyahomeinBeijing.The17-year-oldboywhomovedtoBeijingin1995hadfinallysettleddowninthecityafter18years.
Duetotherestrictionsofthehouseholdregistrationsystem,Yang’schildrencouldonlyreceivenineyearsofcompulsoryeducationinBeijing.TheywentbacktoYang’shometowninShanxiforseniorhighschooleducation.Thesameproblemaffectsmillionsofmigrantsinthecountry’smajorcities.
Sincethestartofreformandopeningup,Chinahasadheredtotheprincipleofdevelopmentandconcentratedonbuildingthenationintoamoderncountry.By2010,China’sGDPhadleaptintosecondplaceworldwide,withbotheconomicandcomprehensivenationalstrengthelevatedtoanewlevel.
Butintheprocessofdevelopment,someproblemsalsoappeared.Oneofthemostprominentsideeffectsofrapideconomicprogresswasunbalanceddevelopmentbetweenurbanandruralareas.Moreandmorepeoplebecameattractedbytheadvantagesofbig-citylife,andtheone-wayflowofthepopulationfarexceededanyone’sexpectations.Thedemandoncivicstructuresbecamebloated,andsectionsofthemigrantlaborforcewereunabletoaccessfundamentalpublicservices.
Theseissueshaveattractedtheattentionoftheauthoritiesinrecentyears.BasedonthehistoricalpositionofsocialismwithChinesecharacteristicsinthenewera,the19thNationalCongressoftheCommunistPartyofChinaproposedthattheprincipalcontradictioninChinesesocietyhadtransformedintothedisparitybetweenpeople’sgrowingneedsforabetterlifeandunbalancedandinadequatedevelopment.
ThecongressputforwardmanynewrequirementsfortheworkofthePartyandthegovernmenttowardresolvingthisincongruity.Amongthem,themostimportantisafocusonpeople-orienteddevelopment,findingsolutionstoproblemscausedbyunbalancedandinsufficientdevelopment,andpromotingall-rounddevelopmentandthecommonprosperityofthepeople.
Onthewaytothiscommonprosperity,Yanghasrealizedpersonalgratificationinthecountry’sachievements.
“Themostobviouschangeistheroadsinmyhometownwhichhaveincreasedinbothquantityandquality,”Yangsaid,scrollingthroughphotosonhismobilephone.“Asphaltroadsarereplacingdirttracks.Thechangesarenotlimitedtothis.Bytheendofnextyear,thehigh-speedtrainfromDatong[inShanxi]toZhangjiakou[inneighboringHebeiProvince]willbeputintooperationandIwillhaveyetanotherchoiceoftransportwhenIgohome.”
Yang,nowenteringhis40s,hassetgoalsforthecomingsixyearsforbothhisfamilyandhimself.Heplanstoachievemoreatworkandearnpromotiontoaseniortechnicianassoonaspossible.HealsohopesthathissoncanbeadmittedtoauniversityinBeijing.
CopyeditedbyLaurenceCoultonCommentsto
BeforeandaftershotsofaroadinYangFu’shometownofGejiatunVillage,TianzhenCountyinnorthChina’sShanxiProvince,in2008and2018YANGFU“Sincetheimplementationofreformandopeningup,themobilityofChina’spopulationhasincreased.Moreyoungpeoplebecamewillingtoheadoffonadventurestothebigcityinsearchofopportunities.”
—YangFu,amigrantworkerinBeijing