Experience shared

Communication with business owners in Kunming further strengthened the confidence of Laotian village chiefs in boosting development.

Qi Mingde, general manager of Yunnan Ruran Letu Agricultural Development Co in Anning, said the visitors were most interested in how Chinese entrepreneurs, as investors, have helped villagers raise their annual income from 18,000 yuan to 23,000 yuan in just two years. They also wanted to know why the entrepreneurs took the bold decision to make such a large-scale investment in a rural area.

"In the hope of earning a better living, the village chiefs were inspired to think outside the box and experiment to test the knowledge they gained from our experience in developing rural ecotourism," Qi added.

He said that in the past five years, his company has turned local farmers into shareholders by involving them in making decisions to fully tap local resources. The village's 30 surplus laborers were all employed, and last year, the average monthly income of local residents reached about 3,000 yuan.

Qi said that to improve the village's environment, areas where garbage was piled high were cleaned up and transformed into green zones. Residents' houses were renovated, and a walking path now surrounds the village to improve fitness levels.

"The average annual income of villagers in Gulang, where we developed rural tourism, has risen from 18,000 yuan five years ago to 23,000 yuan. The second phase of our tourism project has been completed, and the third phase will continue to expand the scale of operation," he said.

On an exploratory tour to the border, Qi saw that Laos boasts abundant natural resources.

"It is a good place to develop ecological tourism. The village chiefs may not be aware of the specific methods involved, but the pleasant environment in Laos could be used to improve tourist resources," he said.

"Many Laotian village chiefs said they hoped to replicate the success that our company has had in Gulang in their own villages. They also plan to send more villagers and officials from relevant departments to China to learn from us.

"I have no hesitation in sharing our experience with the Laotian people and I am very willing to help the development of rural areas in Laos."

The Laotians were also impressed by the agricultural planting techniques used by rural companies in Yunnan.

Xaiyavong, the Ban Borpied village head, said he hoped agricultural experts and technicians from Kunming would visit his village soon to guide residents in producing plant products in a more advanced technological way.

"We grow rubber, sugar cane and watermelons. Much of our produce is sold to other parts of China through Yunnan. I was deeply impressed by the diverse varieties of specialty crops, large-scale planting models, and the mature procurement and sale systems in Yunnan. I hope to strengthen cooperation with the province in this respect," he said.