Across China: Reentry programs help ex-prisoners return to communities

In the last five years, Liu Fujun has transformed himself from a prisoner into a successful entrepreneur in northeast China's Jilin Province.

Liu, 46, owns a company worth millions that sells seeds to farmers in Dongliao County. Before 2011, he served five prison terms for the minor offenses of intentional harm and inciting brawls.

With a guarantee from the government, Liu received two million yuan (306,500 U.S. dollars) in start-up funds. Now he employs more than 50 former prisoners.

"One of the men I hired said he would teach his neighbor, who turned him in to the police, a lesson. I persuaded him not to, and he listened, because we share similar experiences," said Liu.

Liu's company participates in the Rainbow Base, a re-entry program started by the Jilin provincial judicial department to help ex-prisoners return to the community.

Rainbow Base cooperates with 300 companies across the province.Twenty-five of the companies are owned by ex-prisoners, said Cui Jun, deputy director of the re-entry branch of the Jilin provincial judiciary department.

The companies include auto repair, construction, housing renovation, farming and cleaning businesses, he said.

They receive state subsidies to train and house the ex-prisoners, Cui added. "These companies give newly released people proper skill training and a job, which are key to help them re-establish self-confidence and join the community," he said.

The judiciary department also helps former prisoners qualify for credit from banks and apply for tax breaks if they want to start a company.

Last year, 13,244 ex-prisoners, about 81.5 percent of the total, received help through the Rainbow Base program.

Zhu Fengchen, 48, works as a quality examiner at an auto repair company in Jilin. He was offered free housing and meals at the company for the first few months after he was released in 2011. Now he earns 4,000 yuan a month and is preparing for his wedding.

Sun, 28, served four years for theft and had no means to support himself after being released, until he was offered a job at the Jilin Huabang Group, a private auto service company and one of the biggest employers in the Rainbow Base program. In the last four years, the company hired more than 400 ex-prisoners.

"The job prevented me from feeling rejected, and the most important thing is that there is little discrimination where I work," Sun said.

"It helped me stand on my feet again," he added.

Nationwide, similar re-entry programs have been adopted in other provinces and regions, including Hunan, Shanghai and Beijing. Endi