By Gao Xin

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Blend of Traditional，Modern in Dynamic Bozhou

By Gao Xin

The Bozhou Traditional Chinese Medicine Materials Market opening ceremony on March 8， 2015

Bozhou of Anhui Province， a city located in central China that has served as an important granary since ancient times， boasts convenient transportation and rich natural resources. Currently， the city has a population of 6.1 million. In recent years， Bozhou has undergone efforts to build itself into a dynamic，beautiful and happy city， as well as to realize the goal of building a moderately prosperous society.

‘Innovation 2.0'

The Bozhou municipal government has tried its best to build an e-government platform to serve the people. Known as “the entire processing agent for public services（version 2.0）”， the online business hall of Bozhou provides not only all-round services but also the impetus for various service departments to improve their efficiency through online monitoring and setting a time limit on the handling of affairs.

By December 2015， the online platform had received just over 1 million submissions from the public and handled 991，000 issues，with a public satisfaction rate of over 99 percent. In the national exhibition of typical cases of administrative service halls in 2015，the online business hall of Bozhou stood out among the 291 nationwide and won the title as one of the “Top 100 Business Halls”.

A series of “self-revolution” moves to carry out reform and transform government functions have been launched in a comprehensive ways， including streamlining administration and delegating power to lower levels. Bozhou has vigorously promoted reform in the administrative examination and approval system， completed and publicized the lists of power， responsibilities，public services and administrative charges at city， county and township levels. Only 84 of the original 395 items subject to municipal administrative examination and approval have been retained.

Bozhou combines the operation of the online business hall with the work of streamlining administration and delegating power to the lower levels. Internet+ governance enables enterprises to handle their business faster. Moreover， the city has also improved its policy guarantee system， vigorously promoted the direct financing of enterprises and provided multi-level， diversified services forthe real economy.

In 2015， Bozhou initiated a micro-credit guarantee insurance model to provide mortgage-backed loans for small and micro enterprises within the agricultural sector，rural areas and individual farmers. A total 1.02 billion yuan （$157 million） has so far been loaned via the platform entitled “I want a loan” created and built by Bozhou， initially easing the financing difficulties of small and micro enterprises.

E-commerce is greatly valued. Bozhou is one of the largest traditional Chinese medicine materials trading markets in the country. It has vigorously promoted development of e-business. A Bozhou Specialty Shop has been opened on such online sales platforms as Taobao and Jingdong. the two e-business platforms for traditional Chinese medicine materials， yt1998 and yobo360，have seen rapid development.

‘Sense of Benefit'

A sense of benefit is， in fact， an embodiment of happiness. the concept of “Happy Bozhou” is designed to have everyone on board， leaving no one behind. The policy of giving priority to employment ensures a promising future.

Wu Qiming lives in the Bozhou Economic Development Zone. The government expropriated Wu's family's land， and though Wu's family received compensation，a new house and various guarantees， Wu himself has opted to learn new skills to find work outside of farming. He is busy preparing for the second part of his driver's test after the Bozhou Economic Development Zone began offering subsidized training at driving schools. Wu feels the ability to drive will allow him to pursue more diverse opportunities.

These days， there are many farmers like Wu in the Bozhou Economic Development Zone. A graduate student named Sun Hao is one of Wu's classmates at driving school， but his main purpose is to improve his quality of life.

Sun graduated from medical management of a university in Zhejiang Province last year. He is now working for a pharmaceutical company.

“I wanted to work in a big city ather graduation but was attracted by the employment environment of my hometown in recent years. So I came back，” Sun said.

A bird's eye view of beautiful Bozhou

He has bought a house in the downtown area and will get married soon. He said many of his high school classmates have returned to Bozhou to seek jobs or start a business after graduation， achieving good results.

All this benefits from the city vigorously promoting a strategy of giving priority to employment， boosting entrepreneurship， encouraging start-ups to promote employment and emphatically promoting these concepts to help families currently without a single earner， farmers whose land has been expropriated and college graduates. In 2015， there were some 50，000 new urban employees and about 110，000 rural surplus laborers being transferred.

Bozhou has also stimulated the entrepreneurial enthusiasm of the public by optimizing the business environment and providing support for start-ups， along with various other measures. In 2015， the small loan guarantee fund for young entrepreneurs was set up， with a 500，000 yuan （$76，485） guarantee provided by local guarantor enterprises. The cooperative banks will then provide 10 times of that amount， 5 million yuan （$764，850）， for young entrepreneurs' start-up.

In August 2014， the employment and start-up loan application of the municipal human resources and social security bureau began to operate in the online business hall.thus， entrepreneurs can apply for the startup loans from home. In the first half of last year， 4，054 enterprises of various kinds were registered， a year-on-year increase of 47 percent. Nearly 4，000 of the businesses registered were private firms， an increase of 46percent year-on-year.

During the 12th Five-Year Plan （2011-2015）， Bozhou launched a series of projects to enhance people's livelihoods. For example，11，664 multimedia classrooms have been built in 1，398 compulsory education schools to provide support for Internet-based education， named “IT Access for All Classes Project”. In fact， it is a teaching system that embraces the “Internet +” teaching model. Teachers can make full use of the digital education resources in the city - or even the whole country - to implement modern technology into the classroom.

In the transformation of weak schools，Bozhou ensured a balanced allocation of educational resources， continuously strengthened infrastructure in and around rural primary and middle schools， while also improving the conditions of weak schools in poor areas. These measures have further narrowed the gap between regions， urban and rural areas and schools. Now， schools are becoming one of the most beautiful scenery in the countryside.

Improvements at area schools have not been the only innovative infrastructural improvement seen in rural Anhui in the past few years. In late 2014， a resident of a nearby village named Chen Huaifang set up a simple power station on her roof - comprising of just 12 photovoltaic panels and a stand. Chen， who lives in a village in Lixin County of Bozhou， is not an expert in power generation， but her project has proved a success，earning a modest amount of money for herself and her neighbors.

Chen's story is not unique. It is part of a government-funded project to boost household power generation. Installing a simple power system， which can generate 3 kW of electricity， costs 24，000 yuan （$3，671）. Each power system can earn more than 3，000 yuan（$459） per year. So far， power systems have been installed for 3，500 households.

Moreover， poor families are provided with start-up loans. A database of poverty alleviation projects is being compiled to give each village a voice in promoting projects that would benefit those most. In recent years， Lixin County has achieved remarkable results in poverty reduction. It is expected that by 2017， more than 150，000 impoverished people in the county will escape poverty. Local government's goal is to leave no one behind as Lixin County eradicates poverty.

Beauty Called ‘Quality'

There is a saying in Bozhou that one's beauty lies in his/her “quality”. It is reflected in the external environmental quality， internal cultural quality and citizens' level of education.

In a Bozhou village called Qianmazhuang，houses are surrounded by green trees and clean cement roads linking more than 100 households in the village. Each household lives in a new building with new toilets. The environment has been greatly improved， with clean water and spotless surroundings.

Since 2012， a series of projects focusing on maintaining countryside beauty and rural sanitation have been launched， leading many villages like Qianmazhuang take on a completely new look.

Bozhou's urban appearance has also improved. the project of “dismantling walls to show the greenery” - the riverside landscape project integrated management project and afforestation project - has seen a beautiful Bozhou emerge. People can walk amongst green trees alongside the river. thanks to the continuously strengthened environmental regulation and a series of effective pollution-controlling measures， the air quality has also been significantly improved.

Culture too plays a role in the improvement of a city. As an old city with a history of more than 3，700 years， Bozhou is rich in irreplaceable cultural resources related to Taoism and Wei Kingdom culture， an example of the city's remarkable cultural roots. These roots have laid the foundation for further cultural development. In 2013，traditional Chinese culture began to have a stronger presence in Bozhou. In early 2014， the proposal of “carrying out education of traditional Chinese classics” was recommended by the Bozhou Municipal Government for the first time， and the project of building a “cultural Bozhou” was also launched to develop citizens' reading habits. In 2015， the education of traditional Chinese classics was included in the local academic assessment system.

Bozhou has vigorously promoted traditional Chinese classics in schools， families，enterprises， government， communities and the countryside.

The cultural quality of citizens reflects the spirit of a city that stresses “virtue” most. In recent years， 40 “moral models” have been elected as embodiment of the “virtuous， pragmatic， innovative and hard-working” spirit of the city. Recipients have included Ms. Zhang，who has taken care of her paralyzed son for more than 40 years； Mr. Xia， who along with his son died confronting local criminals； Mr. Liu， a stem cell donor； Mr. Jiang， who saved his neighbor from a fall； Mr. Sun & Mr. Zhu，both of whom rescued people who nearly drowned in Cangnan County， Zhejiang Province in 2015. Each of these people has embodied the spirit of Bozhou.

Good deeds and warmth in personality are character traits evident on Bozhou. On Dec 3， 2015， the International Volunteer Day，a ceremony was held in downtown Bozhou.the municipal government awarded prizes to outstanding volunteers. It is the kind-hearted people like these who have encouraged more people to join the ranks of volunteers. they are advocates of the spirit of their city， ever pushing for improvements in quality of life.

In January 2015， Bozhou was formally elected as the third “civilized city” in Anhui Province， further evidence of the beauty of Bozhou， as well as a testament to the quality of life its citizens enjoy.