STORY: Reform for the people: Former fisherman's new life
SHOOTING TIME: Recent footage
DATELINE: July 12, 2024
LENGTH: 00:02:06
LOCATION: HUKOU, China
CATEGORY: ECONOMY/SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Poyang Lake
2. various of fishermen
3. SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): XU SHENGHE, Head of Xuwanjian community in Hukou County
4. various of job training sessions
5. SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): XU SHENGHE, Head of Xuwanjian community in Hukou County
6. SOUNDBITE 3 (Chinese): XU SHENGHE, Head of Xuwanjian community in Hukou County
7. various of Xu Shenghe starting businesses
8. SOUNDBITE 4 (Chinese): XU SHENGHE, Head of Xuwanjian community in Hukou County

STORYLINE:

At the confluence of China's longest river, the Yangtze, and the country's largest freshwater lake, Poyang, lies Hukou County in east China's Jiangxi Province.

A community called Xuwanjian sits next to Poyang Lake.

For a long time, people there primarily earned their livelihood through fishing.

Xu Shenghe was one of them.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): XU SHENGHE, Head of Xuwanjian community in Hukou County
"Since I was a child, I've been fishing with my father. To date, it's been almost 20 years. Fishing did not provide a stable income. In some years, we earned over 200,000 yuan (about 27,537 U.S. dollars), but sometimes, the revenue could be as low as less than 20,000 yuan (about 2,754 U.S. dollars). There was no guarantee. When the weather turned bad, we dared not go out, which meant no income for half a month. It was indeed tough for my family to make a living under such circumstances."

Starting from 2021, China has imposed a 10-year ban on fishing in the key waters of the Yangtze River basin to restore the biodiversity along the river.

To help fishermen find new sources of income, local governments have guided them to participate in other industries.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): XU SHENGHE, Head of Xuwanjian community in Hukou County
"Local governments at various levels organized training for fishermen, including farming, growing oil tea, and tea cultivating. I attended no fewer than 20 such training sessions for farmers."

SOUNDBITE 3 (Chinese): XU SHENGHE, Head of Xuwanjian community in Hukou County
"We soon took the initiative to contract the reservoir in our village (for fish farming). The government has been very supportive of us fishermen. They are ready to provide subsidized loans to us if we lack funds after transitioning onshore."

Apart from fish farming, Xu also took on the contract for tea planting, providing jobs for many fellow villagers right at their doorstep.

SOUNDBITE 4 (Chinese): XU SHENGHE, Head of Xuwanjian Community in Hukou County
"I established a cooperative and hired villagers to harvest tea leaves. I also hired them to sell the fish I raise. I even hired people to harvest rice. I pay hundreds of thousands of yuan in wages each year. I not only make money myself, but also help increase income for my fellow villagers."

Over the past decade, China has been fostering and developing new industries and new forms of business in rural areas and broadening channels for farmers to increase their incomes and get rich.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Hukou, China.
(XHTV)