Economic Development of Friendship Village

In the early 1970s, the collective economy of Youyi Village was weak. The villagers lived on only 734 acres of farmland, with an annual income of only nearly 100 yuan. By 1973, a willow weaving workshop was set up in the village, using local materials, with more than a dozen employees and an annual output value of more than 10,000 yuan. In 1978, the Houcun Party Branch seized the opportunity of reform and opening up, emancipated the mind, started from reality, developed industry, invested 80,000 yuan, and opened the Youyi Silk Factory, with more than 20 employees, using 12 houses left over from the land reform as workshops. Mainly processing quilts, the profit that year was 53,400 yuan. In 1979, he borrowed 100,000 yuan from the bank and built the Youyi Textile Printing and Dyeing Factory. By 1983, he had made a profit of 311,000 yuan. From 1985 to 1992, Youyi Village, with Youyi Textile Printing and Dyeing Factory and Youyi Silk Factory as its leaders, successively established a measuring tool factory, an automobile lighting factory, and a Youyi construction engineering team. It also jointly established Jiangyi Weaving Factory with Jiangyin and Zhuji Fengqiao. The town jointly established Fengyi Printing and Dyeing Factory, and jointly established Zhejiang Shaoxing Gangyi Textile Co., Ltd. and Jiangyi Textile Research Institute with Hong Kong Wulong Printing and Dyeing Co., Ltd. In May 1992, Zhejiang Youyi Economic and Industrial Corporation was established.

In the 1980s, the household contract responsibility system was implemented in agriculture, which liberated productivity and further developed agricultural production. Due to the development of industry, more and more villagers are working in factories, and the village has established an agricultural service team to provide social services to the villagers. Beginning in 1987, joint production contracting shifted to large-scale operation. As the collective economic accumulation increased, Youyi Village successively invested 1.25 million yuan to transform more than 250 acres of the famous low-yielding farmland - Temple Houfan, and built more than 4,000 meters of ponds and dams. To ensure stable and high grain production, the grain yield per mu reached 1,067 kilograms in 1992. The village purchased 28 sets of agricultural machinery, laying the foundation for agricultural mechanization.

In 1992, the total industrial output value of the village was 109.37 million yuan, with tax profits of 9.6 million yuan. It was the first unit in Keqiao Town to enter the 100-million-yuan village. As a village-level entity, Youyi Economic and Industrial Corporation has 9 subsidiaries, 1 raw material management department, fixed assets of 25.1529 million yuan, 1,248 employees, and 50 workers recruited from other villages. Industrial production capacity: 2.65 million meters of artificial cotton and chemical fiber cloth, 93.5 million meters of printing and dyeing cloth, and 42,000 sets of automobile lamps. The annual agricultural production is 715,900 kilograms of grain, and 681 pigs are raised throughout the year. The per capita output value of villagers is 92,900 yuan. In the 10 years since 1983, the total industrial and agricultural output value and tax profits have increased by 50 times and 23.4 times respectively. In 1992, the per capita income of employees reached 3,654 yuan, and the per capita income of villagers reached 2,300 yuan, an increase of 4.5 times and 5 times respectively compared with 1983.

The economic development of Youyi Village has enabled the villagers to embark on the road of common prosperity. The living standards of villagers have improved significantly. In 1985, the village funded the establishment of a tap water station, and tap water was installed at each household for free. Villagers can study for free from kindergarten to junior high school, and receive scholarships for high school and university. Elderly people over the age of 60 are provided with a living allowance of 25 yuan per person per month. The company implements a retirement system, with female employees over 55 years old and male employees over 60 years old receiving monthly pensions of 45 yuan and 50 yuan respectively. The annual medical expenses for villagers and employees are 60 yuan per person; those who exceed 500 yuan will be reimbursed 50 yuan; and those with family difficulties will be given subsidies. On average, there is one telephone for every three households in the village; villagers use closed-circuit televisions; liquefied petroleum gas is provided free of charge, rationed by household and labor, with the maximum reaching 12 bottles per year, and the rate of water, electricity and gas reaching 100 households. The village actively carries out activities to support the army and give priority to family members, encouraging young people to enlist in the army. If one person joins the army, the whole family will be honored. From the time a young person joins the army, one of his parents can leave the job and enjoy employee benefits until he retires.

The appearance of the village before the 1970s was dilapidated and dilapidated. The villagers’ houses were all ancestral tiled houses of varying heights. In the 1980s, villagers' living standards improved, they had new requirements for the environment and housing, and they began to develop into two- and three-story buildings. In 1984, the village made a unified plan and invested 3.5 million yuan to demolish all the demolished houses, widen the roads, pour cement pavement, connect large and small roads, plant weeping willow shrubs on the roadside, and install five-color street lights in the garden. At the same time, 3,400 meters of river were built to improve flood control capabilities.

In 1991, the Shaoxing County Party Committee and County People's Government of China called for the construction of a new socialist countryside, and Youyi Village was listed as one of the new rural construction demonstration villages. The village invited the Architectural Design Institute of Zhejiang Institute of Technology to provide comprehensive and scientific planning. In August 1992, after review and demonstration by technical experts from the urban construction planning departments of the province, city, and county, the Friendship Village planning plan was approved. Leaders from the Ministry of Construction and the National Science and Technology Commission have visited the village many times for inspections. Friendship Village has been established as a pilot village for the construction of a new socialist countryside by the Ministry of Construction and the National Science and Technology Commission. New buildings with complete facilities and elegant decoration are rising from the ground. The business is prosperous and the villagers live and work in peace and contentment. Friendship Village has been awarded the title of Civilized Village by the Shaoxing Municipal and County People's Governments. The village party branch has been awarded the title of Advanced Party Organization by the Shaoxing County Committee of the Communist Party of China for eight consecutive years since 1985. Lou Rengen, secretary of the village party branch and general manager of Youyi Economic Industrial Corporation, has been rated as an outstanding party member at the county level for eight consecutive years since 1985.