VZCZCXRO3583
RR RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHGZ #1046/01 2822332
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 092332Z OCT 06
FM AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4297
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GUANGZHOU 031046 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
USDOC FOR 4410/ITA/MAC/MCQUEEN 
 
STATE ALSO PASS USTR/CHINA OFFICE 
 
USPACOM FOR FPA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON PGOV SOCI CH
SUBJECT: Urbanized Western PRD: Losing Agricultural Land and Making 
It Look Easy 
 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary and comment: Although the loss of land, through 
sales, eminent domain or simple expropriation has often been 
accompanied by rural unrestthree key cities in Guangdong's 
prosperous western Pearl River Delta have escaped this cycle of 
violence during the past eight-to-fifteen years   A combination of 
reasonably good planning and management as well as adequate local 
government resources, some social welfare payments and 
othercompensation to villagers has ensured social stability.  In 
each case, economic growth and the rise in villagers' standards of 
living has been gradual but positive.  Clearly civil unrest need not 
occur if the villagers believe they have been treated fairly and in 
a transparent fashion.  End Summary and comment. 
 
¶2.  (U) The western Pearl River Delta (PRD) in Guangdong Province is 
not as prosperous as the eastern side, but compared with much of 
China it is still quite wealthy.  Zhongshan, Zhuhai, and Jiangmen 
are large and growing industrial cities in the western PRD which 
have absorbed villages and taken over agricultural lands in the 
process.  The only markers of the villages now is a traditional 
stone gate over a street with the village name on it.  The three PRD 
ities have succesSfully managed the probuss nf integ2auing(theM 
vlmag%s wi`outskVml0wnvsvtroUgh tAryilg duermes nQ 
#gl`a.{`dkon/QQ[xogsHe2#clngjle"- Q}rrecive[w#k%cqM 
--,=+)=)!,=+%.Q-)---,-)=.+-),QQ:Q.# )'nNgS`~%,`bgHk5,Ve5oZk|`Gsq gQ(Q`0H.Nn!`a`HQ 
5w*T{bo@plbgQ p`.}fc_j`Qq ScoBmnaewj|l}V,SD 118 million) in 2004, or 1,160 times the assets in 
1978, just prior to the opening of the economy. 
 
¶4.  (U) In recent years, Changzhou has invested RMB 3 million (USD 
380,000) to build a 10,000-square meter stadium, RMB 120 million 
(USD 15 million) to build a housing project of 60,000 square meters 
(645,000 square feet), and RMB 30 million (USD 3.8 million) to build 
a large entertainment center for its inhabitants; the latter 
includes a large swimming pool, wave pool, climbing wall, dance 
studios, and more.  The Group has also renovated the villages' 
190-year-old Yanzhou Library and the 400-year-old Huang's Ancestral 
Hall.  In 2004, the Group invested RMB 1.85 million (USD 235,000) to 
upgrade the facilities of the Yanzhou Primary School.  The school, a 
small part of which is housed in a renovated old temple to 
Confucius, promotes the teachings of Confucius in addition to 
regular studies.  All primary school pupils attend school for free. 
 
 
¶5.  (U) Since 2001, a pension scheme has been in place, benefiting 
more than 700 retired men and women, who get RMB 400 (USD 50) per 
month.  The Group established a medical insurance system as well. 
Group members, all villagers, pay an annual fee of RMB 100 (USD 12), 
and will be reimbursed up to RMB 30,000 (USD 3,800) for medical 
expenses.  Residents in the commercial housing complexes can also 
use the hospital built by the Group. 
 
¶6.  (U) City life brings more crime.  In order to improve its public 
security situation, Changzhou invested RMB 1.5 million (USD 127,000) 
in 2006 to build a monitoring room with 12 screens which security 
guards can use to monitor the villages.  The monitors follow 
activities through 200 cameras installed in public places, 
withrecordings from each camera kept for seven days before being 
deleted.  Before the cameras were installed in 2005, there was an 
average of 60 street crimes per year.  In 2006, there have been only 
five. 
 
Jiangmen: Baishi Village Enterprises Group - Doing Well 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
¶7.  (U) Deputy Secretary of the Communist Party Committee Xiao 
Yongchun explained that as early as 1984, farmers in Baishi Village, 
which is located in the Pengjiang District of Jiangmen  and is home 
to 4,300 villagers, began to leave farming to take other work as the 
city grew around them.  When taking over the agricultural land, the 
 
GUANGZHOU 00031046  002 OF 002 
 
 
government helped the village establish the Baishi Village 
Enterprises Group, which now consists of five factories and one real 
estate company.  The Group earned a profit of RMB 90 million (USD 
11.4 million) in 2005.  One of the factories was founded in 1992, 
employs more than 300 people, mostly villagers, and makes components 
for trucks and buses.  A commercial apartment project occupying 200 
mu (33 acres), being built by the Group's real estate company, was 
named a "National Green Community" by the State Environment 
Protection Bureau in May. 
 
¶8.  (U) The Gan Guangyi Primary School was originally donated by an 
overseas Chinese businessman and recently renovated at the cost of 
RMB 20 million (USD 2.5 million).  Headmaster Ma Xinchang proudly 
provided a tour of the modernized school, which has 900 pupils in 18 
classes from Grade 1 to Grade 6.  The school has capacity for 1,200 
pupils and emphasizes English and computer skills.  On the walls of 
corridors and outside classroom buildings were bilingual slogans in 
Chinese and English encouraging the pupils to study hard.  Each 
classroom had a large-screen TV and projector.  The large computer 
lab had up-to-date computers for student use.  According to Ma, all 
school teachers are well qualified, licensed, and paid by the 
government.  Since 2002, tuition and other types of fees have been 
exempted in primary and middle schools. 
 
¶9.  (U) The Group pays social benefits to men over 60 years old and 
women over 55 years old (standard retirement age).  Each is entitled 
to a monthly pension of RMB 700 (USD 88) from the village committee. 
 All villagers are covered by medical insurance, which pays 80% of 
medical costs.  While visiting the home of a villager amidst several 
blocks of similarly-sized three-storey townhouses, Congen officer 
was informed by a retiree in her 60's that her house, built in 1999, 
had cost RMB 400,000 (USD 51,000 in today's dollars), using loans 
from the Group.  Commenting on the major changes in her life since 
losing her land, she highlighted the improvements: she no longer 
needed to work in farming, her pension gradually increased from RMB 
100 (USD 12) to RMB 700 (USD 88) since retirement, and her 
(stylishly dressed and urbanized) children received RMB 2,000 (USD 
250) in cash awards from the Group when they were admitted to 
university. 
 
Zhuhai - Beishan Village, Nanping Town - Comfortable 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶10.  (U) Beishan Village, situated in Nanping Town of Zhuhai's 
Xiangzhou District, has a population of 1,700 and an area of 5 
square kilometers.  Deputy Chief Executive of Nanping Town Wu Nan 
explained that village agricultural lands were confiscated by the 
city government in 1988, ending agricultural work in the village. 
Villagers either work in factories or live on the rents that they 
earn from leasing their original houses.  There are more than 30 
relatively low-tech, village-owned enterprises making plastic bags, 
garments, furniture, or plastic molding, offering employment for the 
villagers.  The managerial positions are filled by the local 
villagers, while an increasing number of positions on the production 
lines are filled by migrant workers coming from other provinces. 
These enterprises last year generated net profits of RMB 7.4 million 
(USD 937,000) for the villagers. 
 
¶11.  (U) In 2000, villagers started a RMB 50 million (USD 6.3 
million) housing project with 520 apartments to replace their old 
housing.  Each apartment is larger than 100 square meters (more than 
1,000 square feet) and the last phase of the project is now being 
completed.  Wu said that the old residential area would be torn down 
to make way for new enterprises.  Wu emphasized that there is now no 
distinction between villages such as Beishan and the rest of the 
city.  Beishan's old ancestral temple has not been renovated and 
temple is used as a school, whichalso teaches Confucianism.  A 
second temple, a short walk away, has been rented to an artists' 
colony, but has not yet been renovated. 
 
¶12.  (U) Senior citizens currently receive a pension of RMB 200 (USD 
25) per month and limited health benefits.  The village, still 
somewhat on the fringes of town but in the path of future city 
growth, is planning to develop its tourist industry as the next step 
in its development.  While less developed than the two village 
groups in Zhongshan and Jiangmen, Beishan residents remain 
optimistic about the future. 
 
GOLDBERG