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Z. Lin
I felt bewildered and confused; but when I left there at the age of 22, I had a firm
goal in life and was confident to achieve it. As a servant of the people, I had my root
in the plateau because it nurtured my conviction to do something concrete for the
people. Wherever I go, I’m always the son of that loess land.” Wu Hui, a villager at
Liangjiahe, recalled that “1972 and 1973 marked a turning point in Jinping’s life…
I remember him talking to me, ‘why cannot I take root in Liangjiahe? Why cannot I
stay here and do something good for the people? I will go my own way, do my own
things!’ Jinping’s world outlook and values already took shape back then.”
During that period, a milestone event took place in the environmental protection
history of China and the world. In June 1972, China assigned a delegation to participate in the first UN Conference on Human Environment held in Stockholm, the capital
of Sweden. In August 1973, the first National Conference on Eco-environmental
Protection was held in Beijing, lifting the curtain on our environmental cause. The
conference determined the principles for environmental protection, namely “overall
planning, rational layout, comprehensive utilization, turning hazards to treasures,
relying on and mobilizing the people, protecting the environment, and benefiting the
people.” Xi Jinping, who was in the habit of reading books and newspapers, knew
about these major events and was more or less influenced by them.
In January 1974, a piece of news about methane development in Sichuan published
by the People’s Daily drew Xi Jinping’s attention. Immediately after the Spring
Festival, he borrowed money and went to Sichuan to learn about the methane technology. When he came back to Yanchuan, he, in consideration of local climate and
other conditions, organized research, experiments and construction, and succeeded
in building Shaanxi’s first methane tank in Liangjiahe. After the first methane bulb
was lit up, he led the villagers to build tens of methane tanks, which basically met
the cooking and lighting demand, and he himself became a well-known “specialist”
in methane tank construction. Motivated by him, the Yanchuan County quickly had
a surge of building methane tanks that was known as an “energy revolution.” By
September 30, 1975, the county had more than 3200 methane tanks distributed in all
15 communes, and all the 47 production brigades used methane.
2. Zhengding: we’d rather give up economic benefits than cause pollution
In April 1982, Xi Jinping was transferred to Zhengding County of Hebei Province
and became secretary of the county’s CPC Committee in July 1983. In the early
1980s, China’s environmental protection entered a new stage. In March 1982, the
Ministry of Urban–Rural Construction and Environmental Protection was formed,
under which there was the Environmental Protection Bureau. On December 31,
1983, the second National Conference on Eco-environmental Protection was held,
which made environmental protection a basic state policy. At that conference, Yu
Guangyuan, vice president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, put forth
the vision of “big cruciform agriculture” that was similar to the integration of the
primary, secondary and tertiary industries today, as well as the idea of building ecological counties and provinces. Having inspected and studied Zhengding’s conditions
deeply, Xi Jinping proposed the new strategy of “accelerating ‘two transformations’
by leveraging on cities and introducing talents.” He invited Yu Guangyuan and other
Z. Lin
I felt bewildered and confused; but when I left there at the age of 22, I had a firm
goal in life and was confident to achieve it. As a servant of the people, I had my root
in the plateau because it nurtured my conviction to do something concrete for the
people. Wherever I go, I’m always the son of that loess land.” Wu Hui, a villager at
Liangjiahe, recalled that “1972 and 1973 marked a turning point in Jinping’s life…
I remember him talking to me, ‘why cannot I take root in Liangjiahe? Why cannot I
stay here and do something good for the people? I will go my own way, do my own
things!’ Jinping’s world outlook and values already took shape back then.”
During that period, a milestone event took place in the environmental protection
history of China and the world. In June 1972, China assigned a delegation to participate in the first UN Conference on Human Environment held in Stockholm, the capital
of Sweden. In August 1973, the first National Conference on Eco-environmental
Protection was held in Beijing, lifting the curtain on our environmental cause. The
conference determined the principles for environmental protection, namely “overall
planning, rational layout, comprehensive utilization, turning hazards to treasures,
relying on and mobilizing the people, protecting the environment, and benefiting the
people.” Xi Jinping, who was in the habit of reading books and newspapers, knew
about these major events and was more or less influenced by them.
In January 1974, a piece of news about methane development in Sichuan published
by the People’s Daily drew Xi Jinping’s attention. Immediately after the Spring
Festival, he borrowed money and went to Sichuan to learn about the methane technology. When he came back to Yanchuan, he, in consideration of local climate and
other conditions, organized research, experiments and construction, and succeeded
in building Shaanxi’s first methane tank in Liangjiahe. After the first methane bulb
was lit up, he led the villagers to build tens of methane tanks, which basically met
the cooking and lighting demand, and he himself became a well-known “specialist”
in methane tank construction. Motivated by him, the Yanchuan County quickly had
a surge of building methane tanks that was known as an “energy revolution.” By
September 30, 1975, the county had more than 3200 methane tanks distributed in all
15 communes, and all the 47 production brigades used methane.
2. Zhengding: we’d rather give up economic benefits than cause pollution
In April 1982, Xi Jinping was transferred to Zhengding County of Hebei Province
and became secretary of the county’s CPC Committee in July 1983. In the early
1980s, China’s environmental protection entered a new stage. In March 1982, the
Ministry of Urban–Rural Construction and Environmental Protection was formed,
under which there was the Environmental Protection Bureau. On December 31,
1983, the second National Conference on Eco-environmental Protection was held,
which made environmental protection a basic state policy. At that conference, Yu
Guangyuan, vice president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, put forth
the vision of “big cruciform agriculture” that was similar to the integration of the
primary, secondary and tertiary industries today, as well as the idea of building ecological counties and provinces. Having inspected and studied Zhengding’s conditions
deeply, Xi Jinping proposed the new strategy of “accelerating ‘two transformations’
by leveraging on cities and introducing talents.” He invited Yu Guangyuan and other