Cheng Yuzhen [Sxqss.com]

A grassroots village official in north China's Shanxi Province has been vigorously leading local villagers to shake off poverty for the past few years.
Cheng Yuzhen is a native of Liuzhai Village in the county of Huguan and is well-known for her talent in operating businesses. She and her husband used to run travel agencies and beauty salons in Huguan county.
In 2011, the villagers constantly invited her to return and help them achieve prosperity. Thus, the 40-year-old Cheng took the post of the village's Party branch secretary.
Liuzhai Village is inhabited by only 700 people, with 249 of them living in poverty, equating a poverty occurrence rate of 36 percent.
In order to get a clear picture of the village situation, Cheng specially consulted the retired branch secretary and young village officials in the township for advice. The first move she made was to  mortgage her beauty salon to have the roads repaired and water supplied with a loan of 1.5 million yuan from the bank, which greatly astonished the whole county.
Subsequently, Cheng raised over 1.4 million yuan with the support of the county government to build two-story buildings, which greatly improved the living conditions of over 40 households in the village.
To further increase the income of local villagers, Cheng repeatedly visited and inspected industries in many places and was determined to develop the vegetable greenhouse industry. She raised 800,000 yuan to build 10 greenhouses and planned to contract them to impoverished households, most of whom declined due to the potential risks. 　
Cheng thus contacted a vegetable planting farmer in the village and guaranteed the profit for him. She also helped find technicians and expand the market. One year later, the villager earned a net income of over 300,000 yuan.
With the effect of a role model, others villagers also set out to participate in the endeavor actively. Cheng then established two cooperatives and built 88 greenhouses through financial loans, shareholdings and land circulation, offering jobs for 56 poverty-stricken households.
After that, Cheng led the villagers to build a stone mill tofu factory and a sheep farm, both of which contributed to gradually improving people's lives. The village has successfully shaken off poverty in 2016 and the annual per capita income of the villagers has now exceeded 5,100 yuan.
The collective economic income of the village has reached 210,000 yuan after seven years of concerted efforts.
However, Cheng is not satisfied with current progress and she is now planning to develop rural tourism to further contribute to the village's development.