Rural CEO was first listed as a profession in China in 2019. It is one of the 13 rural revitalization-related new professions in China, according to Wang Xiaojun, Deputy Director General of the Vocational Capacity Building Department, Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MHRSS). Other such professions include homestay manager and pilot of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The MHRSS periodically recognizes and lists new professions that have emerged in pace with economic and social development.
Rural revitalization is a state-led strategy put forward by President Xi Jinping during the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2017. The idea is to have a comprehensive framework to narrow the urban-rural development gap by accelerating the development of rural areas and making them more attractive to live in.
“New rural professions have boosted rural revitalization,” Wang told China Youth Daily newspaper in early May.
Running rural businesses
The role of rural CEOs is to identify the advantages possessed by villages and use local resources to drive rural development. They should also be capable of bringing personnel, capital, technology, and projects to rural areas to inject new vitality into rural areas, according to job specifications.
In 2021, He resigned from an agricultural financial institution and accepted the offer to be the general manager of a rural company jointly established by Chengkou County’s 190 village collectives. The company’s mission is to boost rural industrial development through equity investment.
“Rural industries have a long investment cycle and high risks; therefore we need to be prudent and careful in making investment decisions,” He told newspaper Xinhua Daily Telegraph.
One of his key tasks is to improve investment feasibility evaluation mechanisms for rural industrial projects to reduce risks. He also conducts research visits to the county’s villages to identify suitable projects. Through these visits, he has identified cured meat production, chicken farming, edible fungi cultivation and tourism as particularly suitable industries for the county.
Using fund entrusted to his company by the rural collectives, He has planned and overseen village projects such as bringing in professionals to run homestays and improving production facilities for farmers.
He’s company has invested over 30 million yuan ($4.1 million) in more than 20 rural projects developing village industries and, to date, has distributed nearly 900,000 yuan ($124,072) in dividends back to local rural collectives.
Applying advanced technology
UAV pilot is also a new profession in rural areas. Wang Jiansen from Taizhou in Jiangsu Province, is working in the role of UAV pilot, using drones to spray pesticides and fertilizer in rural areas.
Cultivating more than 13 hectares of farmland, Wang used to have to hire workers to spray pesticides every year. However, as the costs of hiring these workers increased year on year, Wang decided to buy a UAV to apply the pesticides himself. In 2017, he spent more than 100,000 yuan ($13,786) to buy a UAV.
He went through the UAV pilot training and passed the exams to receive a UAV pilots’ license issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China.
In the beginning, he had planned only to use the UAV to spray pesticides on the farmland managed by him. However, as more and more local farmers approached him for help, he became a professional UAV pilot providing services not only in Taizhou but in other places in China as well.
Jin Hailin, a UAV dealer in Shanghai, told Shanghai Observer news portal that a hardworking plant protection UAV pilot can make hundreds of thousands of yuan (tens of thousands of dollars) a year.
He added that a qualified pilot also needs agricultural knowledge. For instance, he or she must know which pesticides to apply to different crops or the same crops at different stages of growth.
Serving rural tourism
With the booming of rural tourism, homestays have been set up in the rural areas to serve tourists. Homestay manager is a new profession recognized by the MHRSS in June 2022. These managers have multiple tasks, including planning activities for experiencing the local natural environment and cultural heritage, providing customized food and beverage services and accommodation according to customers’ needs and maintaining customer relations.
Zhang Qiu, a native from Huang’antuo Village in Beijing’s Mentougou District, has been a manager at a local homestay for four years.
Zhang has been quick to respond to customer demand. As the homestay is a three-hour drive from downtown Beijing, customers are often exhausted when they arrive. Zhang told China Tourism News newspaper that he invites the customers to the homestay’s reception center, offering them tea and snacks so that they can rest and refresh themselves before checking in.
He added that his work involves taking the customers to pick fruit in the mountains, appreciate the sunset and watch the stars, and also taking them to nearby smallholders to buy fresh agricultural products.
Zhang has a profound love for his village and said he chose to become a homestay manager because he wants to bring more people to see his beautiful hometown.
Unlike Zhang, Yuwen Ji, a homestay manager in Sansi Village in Beijing’s Yanqing District, had been an urban resident before she took on the job eight years ago.
Her daily routine includes getting up at six in the morning to confirm the food ingredient order with the staff member responsible for purchasing.
Before breakfast, she takes guests to grind beans to make soy milk and after breakfast, she takes them to visit a local farmers’ market. In the afternoon, she tells guests about the history and culture of the Great Wall, and takes them to see the remaining sections of the Great Wall, built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), located in the village. She also organizes after-dinner activities for guests each evening.
When all the guests go to bed around 11 p.m., Yuwen can finally call it a day.
It’s exhausting working 17 hours a day but Yuwen takes pleasure in it. “I want to make my customers happy by designing and running cultural activities for them myself,” she told China Tourism News.
“I hope more young people with passion and creativity will join the profession to make homestays more attractive,” she added. –The Daily Mail-Beijing Review news exchange item
