On May 4 and 5, 2018, China Minsheng Investment Group (CMIG) together with Thailand-based Chia Tai Group had a study tour to Henan Province. The two sides will cooperate in rural vitalization, the development of agricultural and animal husbandry, the construction of beautiful countryside, and other areas, helping achieve the vision of strong agriculture, beautiful countryside, and rich farmers.
The vast countryside has become a vast and promising place, and is confronted with once-in-a-generation opportunities for development. Implementing a rural vitalization strategy was presented at the Nineteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China (NCCPC) and written into the party constitution, representing an epoch-making milestone in the development process of the “three rural issues” - agriculture, rural areas and farmers - in China. The 2018 No. 1 Central Document issued at the beginning of this year pointed out that the issues of agriculture, rural areas and farmers are fundamental matters vital to national well-being and the people’s livelihood. Without the modernization of agriculture and rural areas, there would be no modernization of the country.
On the afternoon of May 4, 2018, CMIG and Chia Tai Group held a meeting with the Henan Provincial People’s Government to conduct in-depth exchanges on increasing investment in Henan and achieving mutual benefits and win-win development, with a focus on helping Henan to implement the strategy of rural vitalization.
The meeting was chaired by Chen Run’er, Governor of Henan Province, where Chairman of the Board of Directors of CMIG, and Mr. Dhanin Chearavanont, senior Chairman of Chia Tai Group, delivered speeches. The “Henan News” aired on Henan TV Station and the Henan Daily reported this event:
On May 5, 2018, CMIG and Chia Tai Group visited Pingdingshan City, Henan Province for investigation. During the period, Chairman of the Board of Directors of CMIG, and Mr. Dhanin Chearavanont, senior Chairman of Chia Tai Group and member of the Global Advisory Council (AGC) of CMIG, gave interviews to the People's Daily, Xinhua News Agency, People.cn (or People’s Daily Online), 21st Century Business Herald and other media outlets.
Channeling Capital to Countryside
In response to the strategy of rural vitalization, with the concept of responsible investment, CMIG takes active in the construction of new countryside by keeping close to the community, taking root in the countryside, and building new types of business.
According to Chairman of the Board of Directors of CMIG, utilizing global resource allocation in combination with the integration of diversified industries, CMIG will channel and advance more capital, technologies, talents and other elements to the agricultural and rural areas to generate new types of business and new models for rural vitalization, empowering the rural development in China.
In less than four years since its establishment, CMIG has owned total assets of China more than 300 billion yuan today, over half of which were generated in the livelihood industry. For example, the communities currently under its management cover an area of approximately 800 million square meters combined across 155 cities nationwide, ranking first in the country; the photovoltaic clean energy it invested and constructed has had cumulative power generation of 1.81 billion kWh by the end of 2017; and in prefabricated building, CMIG has already possessed approximately 1,400 patents for architectural technology, and now has an annual capacity of up to 5 million square meters. All of these featured industries can be put to work for the purpose of fully serving the rural vitalization.
Mr. Dhanin Chearavanont, senior Chairman of Chia Tai Group and member of the CMIG GAC, stated that as the first foreign-invested company to invest in China after China’s reform and opening up, Chia Tai Group has been persistent in its efforts to move forward China’s reform and opening up for 40 years, and will continue to increase investment in China.
Centered on three major businesses, namely agricultural and animal husbandry food, commercial retail, and telecommunications, Chia Tai Group is a diversified multinational group company involved in more than 10 industries including finance, real estate, pharmaceuticals, and machining. Up to now, Chia Tai Group has set up more than 400 companies in China with a total investment of over 120 billion yuan and annual sales of nearly 150 billion yuan. It has become one of the largest foreign-invested companies in China with the largest investment and the largest number of investment projects.
It has been revealed that CMIG will join hands with Chia Tai Group and other organizations to launch a rural vitalization industry fund in Henan, with an expected size worth 10 billion yuan, to promote the realization of strong agriculture, beautiful countryside, and rich farmers in Henan.
“5+1” Integrated Solution for Rural Vitalization
What are the aspects involved in implementing the strategy of rural vitalization? General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed five major vitalizations at the two sessions held this year: the vitalization of rural industries, the vitalization of rural talents, the vitalization of rural culture, the vitalization of rural ecological environment, and the vitalization of rural organizations.
CMIG plans to first invest in the construction of cultural complexes as part of a beautiful countryside in Henan Province. It will help facilitate the rural vitalization through the integrated solution of “five services (capital, culture, e-commerce, agricultural technology and education, and healthcare) going to the countryside and one service (agricultural products) going to town” (referred to as “5+1”), and further promote such a solution in major agricultural provinces such as Shandong and Hebei. Pingdingshan City is expected to be the first place for the deployment of CMIG’s plan for the construction of cultural complexes.
The “5+1” solution is designed to take the capital, culture, e-commerce, agricultural technology and education, and healthcare to the countryside, and construct small-scale distribution centers for agricultural products going to the community, creating job opportunities and assisting migrant workers to return home to start businesses.
In the next three years, CMIG plans to invest 15 billion yuan in Henan Province to build the platform of cultural complex to promote the implementation of CMIG’s featured industrial projects, such as distributed photovoltaics, prefabricated building, health, cultural tourism, smart mobility, and modern properties in Henan Province, helping Henan accelerate the conversion of new and old driving forces.
Notably, the integrated solution for rural vitalization presented by CMIG takes the drive of bringing culture to the countryside as the breakthrough point. The cultural complex centered on the rural theater will cover a wide range of cultural and entertainment industries such as singing bars and book bars, creating a cultural life service center and enriching rural residents’ lives. “With cultural life, we can truly bring together talents and industries to create a sound and sustainable modern rural ecological environment,” said Chairman of the Board of Directors of CMIG.
At the meeting, Mr. Chen Run’er, Governor of Henan Province, expressed that he would like to thank Chia Tai Group and CMIG for their long-term support for the economic development of Henan. Also, he mentioned that Henan, as a province with larger population and a major agricultural province, has a great market demand and boasts a strong economic complementarity and good cooperation foundation with CMIG and Chia Tai Group. At this time, the two companies increase their investment in Henan to share the period of important strategic opportunities for the implementation of rural vitalization in Henan, proving that they have a forward-looking and overall strategic vision and have made a correct choice.
At the recently-concluded Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2018, famous investor Rogers repeatedly referred to “Chinese countryside.” He, more than once, expressed his optimism for the vast rural development prospects in China. “China’s rural areas are in a promising period of opportunity. Nowadays, there are many companies like CMIG that are bullish about the prospects of China’s rural development and actively participate in the rural vitalization efforts.”