What does happiness mean to you? In the mountainous region of Pan’an in Jinhua, Zhejiang Province, there’s a grassroots initiative called the “Happiness Plan,” which has been flourishing for over a decade. This program employs a unique approach that combines traditional farming techniques with modern marketing strategies through partnerships with local companies, ultimately benefiting more than 10,000 villagers from around 3,000 households and providing a source of happiness for the local farmers.
For over ten years, this initiative has evolved from the “Happiness Plan” to the more inclusive “Our Happiness Plan.” This slight change in terminology reflects a collective effort to extend the path to shared prosperity from the Dapan Mountains to all corners of the community.
On October 23, a symposium was held in Pan’an focusing on how democratic parties in Zhejiang can contribute to rural revitalization. At this meeting, the first 20 project product authorizations under the “Our Happiness Plan” system were awarded, marking the transformation of innovative local brands into practices that can benefit the region as a whole and support rural revitalization in multiple ways.
Achieving rural revitalization and shared prosperity is closely tied to the core mission of the Communist Party of China, and it requires the concerted efforts of various democratic parties working in harmony.
In 2019, Hu Xiuxiu, a member of the Democratic Progressive Party from Longyou County, Zhejiang, launched the “Longyou Flying Chicken” project. This initiative offers a comprehensive support system to local farmers, providing free chicks, chicken coops, monitoring systems, and even building networks. The project has since been implemented in regions like Sichuan and Xinjiang, becoming a pivotal component of poverty alleviation efforts between the eastern and western parts of China.
Li Huaqin, Chair of the Democratic Progressive Party’s Longyou County grassroots committee, shared, “We leverage our resource advantages to strengthen the ‘Longyou Flying Chicken’ project while utilizing its existing farming model, technology, brand, and sales network to establish demonstration bases across multiple areas, contributing to rural industry revitalization.”
To date, the “Longyou Flying Chicken” initiative has distributed 500,000 chicks and repurchased 480,000 chickens along with 45 million eggs, helping over 3,500 families increase their incomes, averaging an additional 25,000 yuan annually per household.
Meanwhile, the Jiusan Society of Zhejiang Province is injecting technology into rural revitalization efforts. In Yangfengshan Village, they introduced the “Lotus Pond Shrimp” project, revitalizing nearly 200 acres of unused land for growing lotus flowers and farming blue crayfish, which yields an average of 150 pounds per acre and generates over 10,000 yuan in revenue.
Ding Xiaoyan, Deputy Chair of the Jiusan Society’s Zhejiang Provincial Committee, noted, “We harness our technological expertise by signing a cooperation agreement with Yangfengshan Village, regularly providing technical guidance and introducing simplified agriculture methods. This initiative expanded the local rice planting area from 500 acres to 2,000 acres, increasing the annual yield to over 1.3 million pounds.”
Equitable access to public services is also essential for rural revitalization and improving the well-being of citizens. Since 2012, the Democratic Progressive Party of Zhejiang Province has utilized its healthcare expertise to assist under-resourced medical facilities, such as the Maternal and Child Health Hospital in Qujiang District, by implementing targeted support. In 2018, the hospital became the first provincial base for the Democratic Progressive Party’s health expert initiatives.
Transitioning from mere aid to sustainable development, the Democratic Progressive Party is now collaborating comprehensively with the Quzhou city government using a “menu-based service, interactive cooperation, field-specific assistance, and paired support” model. This coordination taps into resources from the Democratic Progressive Central Committee and Zhejiang University of Traditional Chinese Medicine to enhance Quzhou’s healthcare, education, and technological landscape.
A representative from the Zhejiang Provincial United Front Work Department remarked at the symposium, “The vast rural landscape is filled with robust endogenous energy and endless development opportunities.” They expressed hope that all democratic parties would cultivate a sense of community, lay a strong foundation for shared prosperity, and inspire innovation while exploring collaborative paths to create a vibrant future, ultimately bringing to life a vision of “thousand villages leading, ten thousand villages thriving, universal prosperity, and harmonious urban-rural coexistence.”
