Fifty-five years ago, a 15-year-old Xi Jinping, as an \"educated youth,\" went to Liangjiahe Village in northwest China's Shaanxi Province. 🌾 He later spent seven years in the countryside, working and living alongside farmers.
Those years helped foster his unchanging belief in doing practical things for the people, Xi recalled.
After being elected general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee in November 2012, he pledged his continuous dedication to serving the people. \"The people's wish for a happy life is our mission.\" ✨
From a rural Party branch secretary to the general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, Chinese premier and chairman of the Central Military Commission, Xi Jinping always has the country in mind and sees himself as the people's servant.
Man of the People
Xi arrived in Liangjiahe as a slightly bewildered teenager and left as a 22-year-old man determined to serve the people.
He later went to Zhengding, a poor county in north China's Hebei Province. Li Yaping, then a Zhengding County official, recalled that Xi said China had many things waiting to be done and needed some people to shoulder responsibility.
From his early years, Xi seemed uninterested in the trappings of offices. He would travel for days, sometimes into the mountains, to talk with people at the grassroots, learn about their difficulties, and help solve their problems.
In Zhengding, Xi rode an old bicycle all over the county and noticed that the annual grain procurement quota of 38 million kilograms by the state had left local people hungry.
He wrote to the CPC Central Committee, suggesting local farmers' difficulties were caused by the high procurement quota. After the investigation team learned about the situation, they reduced the quota from 38 million kilograms to 24 million kilograms.
Cheng Baohuai, then secretary of Zhengding County CPC Committee, recalled that people appreciated Xi's work, saying they finally had enough food. Xi really rooted himself in the people and took to heart the hardships of the people, Cheng said.
