Gaozhai village embarks on new path to strengthen village collective economy

Villagers weigh peppers they picked at Gaozhai village. [Photo/Guiyang news network]

Surrounded by mountains, Gaozhai village in Kaiyang county used to be mired in poverty. In recent years, by adopting the "village collective economic organization + other economic entities" model, it has established mixed-ownership companies and succeeded in embarking on a new path to strengthen the village collective economy and increase the incomes of villagers.

In 2019, Gaozhai established the village collective economic cooperative and began to develop its pepper planting industry the following year. However, due to a variety of reasons, including cumbersome decision-making procedures, the high input cost of peppers, high transportation costs, and the pepper's low survival rate, the village collective economy saw no profits, and villagers did not pay dividends.

In 2021, after learning from previous experiences, each of the seven village cadres voluntarily invested 10,000 yuan ($1,368) in the village collective enterprise Kaiyang Xinxin Industry and Trade Co to develop the pepper industry.

But at this time, the company was a 100-percent collective economic company, and the company's articles of association did not specify a dividend clause. After making money, they did not know how to pay dividends, so they could only get back the principal of their shares, which affected entrepreneurial enthusiasm.

In 2022, Gaozhai explored a new development model in which the village collective invested 490,000 yuan, accounting for 70 percent of the shares, and villagers and village cadres contributed 210,000 yuan, turning Xinxin Industry and Trade Company into a mixed ownership company.

Since then, the village has been making every effort to develop its pepper industry. Villagers and village cadres have taken the initiative to learn how to use technology, contact the market, and strengthen supervision.

In 2022, the company achieved a profit of 480,800 yuan, a village collective dividend of 336,500 yuan, and an investment return of 68.6 percent, realizing inclusive dividends for villagers for the first time.

Nowadays, Gaozhai has become a well-known "pepper village", and Xinxin company has become the village's leading enterprise that is building a complete pepper-related industrial chain.