{"id":3009,"date":"2026-06-02T23:12:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T23:12:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brisd.org\/?p=3009"},"modified":"2026-06-02T23:12:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T23:12:21","slug":"turning-a-drainage-ditch-into-a-70000-cash-cow-how-a-village-on-beijings-outskirts-reinvented-itself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brisd.org\/zh\/turning-a-drainage-ditch-into-a-70000-cash-cow-how-a-village-on-beijings-outskirts-reinvented-itself\/","title":{"rendered":"Turning a Drainage Ditch into a $70,000 Cash Cow: How a Village on Beijing\u2019s Outskirts Reinvented Itself"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Qaiser Nawab, Chairman BRISD<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a village 91 kilometers from downtown Beijing, a once-forgotten hamlet surrounded by over 30,000 acres of peach blossoms is reinventing itself. Caf\u00e9s, glasshouse lounges, book bars, farmers\u2019 markets, and pet-themed playgrounds now line the village lanes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beside what was once little more than a drainage ditch, a retro-style coffee house is opening soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn summer, it becomes a waterway; in winter, it turns into a light-show venue. This single site now generates over RMB 500,000 (about $70,000) annually for the village,\u201d Li Na, a person in charge, told China Economic Net.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just three years ago, fewer than one-third of the village\u2019s homes were occupied. Most young people had left in search of work elsewhere. But over the past two years, the number of returnees has risen by 20 percent, as long-abandoned houses were renovated, rented out, and turned profitable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The once-overlooked settlement has become a popular countryside retreat for urban white-collar workers seeking an escape from city life. Many come to admire the peach blossoms and nearby Jinhai Lake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Nanshan Village, Pinggu District, Beijing: Past and present<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDuring this year\u2019s May Day holiday alone, more than 5,000 visitors arrived each day in search of a slower pace of life,\u201d according to Li. The village, home to just over 2,200 residents, now hosts 32 themed homestays. Depending on the season and holiday calendar, local organizers curate pet exhibitions, graffiti parties, mountain concerts, traditional wellness classes, agricultural fairs, and heritage health therapies to attract different groups of visitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHousehold income used to be below RMB 100,000 a year. Now, rental income alone has increased that sixfold,\u201d Li said. \u201cE-commerce platforms have also boosted the local economy. Fresh produce, homestays, and recreational activities can now all reach urban consumers online.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the end of 2020, China had declared victory in its campaign to eradicate extreme poverty. Since then, the country\u2019s anti-poverty focus has shifted toward preventing people from falling back into poverty and addressing relative deprivation. Official data shows that health insurance coverage among formerly impoverished populations has remained above 99 percent, while rural tap-water access has reached 96 percent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 2026 \u201cNo. 1 Central Document\u201d \u2014 the government\u2019s most important annual rural policy directive \u2014 the country calls for the institutionalization of \u201cregularized precision assistance\u201d. Over the previous five years, more than seven million at-risk individuals received help to avoid falling back into poverty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Business of Beating Poverty<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yu Jinxiu once worked in Shanghai, earning a living through moxibustion, a form of traditional Chinese medicine therapy. Ten years ago, she returned to her hometown of Wudoudi Village and, with government support, established a vocational training school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, the sector has grown into a RMB 19 billion industry. Wudoudi Village has transformed from being nearly RMB 2 million in debt into a community where annual per capita income exceeds RMB 20,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOver the past decade, we\u2019ve built more than 200 training centers nationwide and trained over 36,000 students,\u201d Yu said. \u201cWe\u2019re also seeing more international faces. Recently, I enrolled more than 40 students from Singapore, Malaysia, and other Southeast Asian countries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Chinese government, industrial assistance programs have covered 98.9 percent of once impoverished counties in China. All 832 counties officially lifted out of poverty have cultivated two to three pillar industries with strong growth potential. Between 2020 and 2025, disposable income for rural residents in those counties grew by an average of 8.2 percent annually in real terms \u2014 0.8 percentage points higher than the national rural average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Together, these industries now generate output worth more than RMB 1.7 trillion. Nearly three-quarters of formerly impoverished residents have established income-sharing links with modern agricultural enterprises or cooperatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI find it useful to think of anti-poverty policy as having a demand side and a supply side,\u201d said Renato Domith Godinho, Director of the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe demand side fills an income gap directly through cash programs like China\u2019s Dibao or Brazil\u2019s Bolsa Fam\u00edlia. The supply side is different. It does not transfer income. It builds the environment, the capacity, and the human and physical capital that allow people to play a productive role in the economy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn cities, markets can do much of this work. But in rural areas, in remote villages, markets alone are not enough. The state has to provide the push. Where China is especially strong, in our view, is on the supply side,\u201d he commented, pointing to industrial development reaching poor households, large-scale relocation from inhospitable areas, ecological compensation programs that turned poor farmers into forest rangers, and village-level coordination led by resident officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can China\u2019s Model Work Elsewhere?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ihsaan Afzal Khan, Coordinator to Pakistani Prime Minister on Commerce, noted institutional features rarely found elsewhere: China\u2019s five-tier system of government allows decisions to be made efficiently; extremely long-term planning ensures continuity through successive five-year plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For countries without continuous governance bodies or funding, is it still feasible to gain any inspiration from China\u2019s poverty reduction practices?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Li Xiaoyun, Chair Professor at China Agricultural University, argued that while China and other Global South countries differ institutionally and culturally, they share many structural realities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMost Global South countries face similar constraints: low levels of industrialization and urbanization, limited capital, weak technology, and imperfect markets,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat they often do possess are abundant labor and land resources. The challenge is finding effective pathways to transform those resources into growth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He described China\u2019s \u201cdevelopment-oriented poverty alleviation\u201d model as a pragmatic path defined by low thresholds, low costs, and high participation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe richest resource in many Global South countries is labor, while capital remains scarce,\u201d Li said. \u201cYou cannot simply rely on borrowing and large-scale capital investment. What China can share are countless small but practical technologies and labor-intensive development approaches.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sabina Alkire noted that several aspects of China\u2019s targeted poverty alleviation model have already proven adaptable abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen we developed a case study for our South-South network, we identified features that are highly transferable,\u201d she said. \u201cThe multidimensional approach \u2014 ensuring food and clothing while guaranteeing healthcare, education, and housing \u2014 is extremely relevant.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key feature, she said, is household-level measurement. \u201cIn Honduras during the pandemic, authorities worked with the UNDP to identify the specific deprivations faced by individual households and distributed QR-code vouchers for food and healthcare assistance,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She also highlighted the role of grassroots poverty officers. \u201cIn Colombia, poverty fell by one-third over eight years. Around 10,000 social workers went door to door connecting poor families to services they didn\u2019t know existed and helping them develop pathways out of poverty. When families exited poverty, there was even a small graduation ceremony.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The clout is palpable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Tanzania, Li\u2019s team introduced high-density corn planting techniques to villages in the Morogoro region more than a decade ago. Today, farmers see yields rise by 30 to 50 percent per acre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe technology is simple, low-cost, and easy to learn. In practical terms, a farmer simply needs to devote more labor and change planting methods without increasing financial input,\u201d Li said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the past five years, China trained more than 200,000 people from developing nations through capacity-building programs under the Global Development Initiative. Its hybrid rice has now spread to nearly 70 countries across five continents, helping raise rice yields in several African countries from roughly two tons per hectare to as high as 7.5 tons. Juncao grass technology has taken root in over 100 countries, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs. Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar have adapted elements of China\u2019s \u201cwhole-village advancement\u201d and \u201ctargeted poverty alleviation\u201d approaches with notable results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author: <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Qaiser Nawab is Chairman of the Belt and Road Initiative for Sustainable Development (BRISD), an international platform fostering cooperation and innovation across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. He can be reached at <\/em>qaisernawab098@gmail.com<\/em><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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