Proud villager returns home and sets residents on entrepreneurial path

Zou Shirong, born and raised in 1982 in Gufang village, Jiangxi province, went to Dongguan, Guangdong province, to look for a job when he was 18.

He found work as an apprentice at a shoe factory and became general manager in 2012, but quit the following year to open his own shoe-making business.

When officials from Gufang invited him to return home to help launch an entrepreneurial plan in winter 2015, his business had started to prosper.

Gufang was seeking successful villagers living and working away from home, in the hope that they could return with good ideas and projects to help local residents improve their lives.

Zou Zhulin, a relative, said Zou Shirong was among the first to be considered, as he was relatively young, educated, and most important, had numerous ideas gained from years of working away from home, along with rich experience as an entrepreneur.

"Rural revitalization needs young, talented people like him," Zou Zhulin said enthusiastically.

For Zou Shirong, the decision to return home was not easy, as it meant starting all over again. However, he finally agreed to move back and was elected director of the newly established village cooperative's council.

He is responsible for conducting market research and proposing operational strategies with 10 other members of the council, who are enthusiastic about the economic situation in the village.

Following a proposal by the council, the cooperative obtained 6 million yuan ($920,000) through villagers' investments and bank loans, rented 247 hectares of land, built gardens for fruit-picking, as well as flower-and vegetable-planting bases.

In recent years, the cooperative's businesses have expanded and become more prosperous. This has benefited villagers who lend land to and work for the cooperative.

Zou Shirong said, "Seeing more villagers getting richer and building new houses, I'm really happy for them and proud of myself."

However, things do not always go smoothly. Although Zou Shirong has tried to bring his experience in assessing market conditions and management to new ventures in Gufang, there is the occasional failure.

"A recent one came when we attempted to plant cherry trees without fully considering the local climate, which resulted in all the trees dying and a loss of more than 100,000 yuan," he said.

"We all learned a lesson from this and often remind ourselves of the need to keep learning and improving our skills," he added.

Another difficulty is funding. As of the end of last year, the village cooperative was 3.5 million yuan in debt.

Zou Shirong, who has been doing all he can to attract external investment to develop existing and new projects, hopes to pay off the debt by 2022.

"What I'm doing now is hard work, but it's interesting and promising," he said.

Liu Yue, Tian Zimu and Chen Xia'nan contributed to this story.