The Sichuan Experience

Green future

Ecological preservation was considered during the planning phases of every project throughout Sichuan. The reconstruction efforts were widely recognized as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to achieve a better economic restructuring and shift to a sustainable and environment-friendly development path.

In Shuimo, the environment shows obvious signs of improvement now that polluting industries have all but vacated the area. Only two enterprises remain, and both are non-polluting, hi-tech ones, said Wen.

In the town, the air is brisk and clear; a narrow crystal stream flows along the main business street. On the mountains surrounding the town, traces of bare earth left by landslides triggered by the earthquake are turning a greenish gray.

"They were yellow before. The color change is a sign of forestation," Guo Shanying, a Wenchuan County official, told Beijing Review.

Bailu Town near Pengzhou City has combined its connection with French culture and its lush natural environment to develop tourism. Southeast China's Fujian Province has been providing assistance to Pengzhou through the partnership assistance program.

In Yongchang, the application of energy-saving technology in the reconstruction process has yielded a low-carbon town. Ground source heat pumps are used in hospitals and hotels to save energy. The main street, plaza and business street are equipped with high-power LED lights. Through the use of clean energy and recycled energy, maintenance costs have been greatly reduced.

Mental recovery

Recovery in people's hearts and minds is as important a part of reconstruction efforts, said Guo. "New houses are useless if one has no will to live," he said.

With painstaking efforts from local governments and provincial assistance, wounds for many have healed with time. So far, not a single case of suicide among earthquake survivors suffering from the psychological backlash of the disaster has been reported, said Guo.

The situation of Beichuan, as opposed to other areas of Sichuan, was more complicated, as the people there suffered more severe mental problems. Ren Xuemei, Director of Psychological Medical Service Center of Beichuan County, told Beijing Review, in the past three years, her center followed up and provided support to all residents in the town showing symptoms of insomnia, anxiety or depression, all early signs of post-traumatic stress disorder.

"The workload was overwhelming at the beginning," said Ren. "The center had six medical staff. Beichuan had around 230,000 residents."

Soon assistance poured in. Qingdao University in coastal Shandong provided psychological assistance for students and teachers in Beichuan. It also helped build standard mental health centers and trained staffers. Summer camps for students and teachers from Beichuan were organized in Qingdao and other cities in Shandong.

So far, 5,167 mental health service centers have been established covering all villages in the quake zone. About 125,000 people have received psychological counseling, according to statistics from the Sichuan Provincial Health Department.

In the meantime, the government encouraged survivors who lost a spouse to consider remarrying. Families that lost children were also encouraged to have another child (See page 27). Parents who lost children are regarded as the most depressed group following the quake.

In the year after the quake, more than 1,000 remarried couples started new lives. By the end of March this year, 3,761 women who lost children to the quake had given birth to new babies, said figures from the Sichuan Provincial Government. They have received financial, technical and mental assistance from both local governments and the assistance partners.

Partnership experience

"Sichuan's reconstruction is a miracle," said Huang Xinchu, head of the Publicity Department of Sichuan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China.

As of May, more than 98 percent of the planned 29,692 post-quake reconstruction projects funded and built by the 18 provinces and municipalities had been finished. By September 2011, the remaining projects will wrap up, according to the latest figures from Sichuan Provincial Government.

The partners, Huang said, have done some unprecedented in the history of reconstruction projects. "What they have accumulated during the process could become known as the Sichuan experience," he said.

Partnership assistance is a special arrangement and an innovative creation of the Chinese government, said Wei Hong, Deputy Governor of Sichuan Province. Since the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, similar programs have been applied to Tibet and Xinjiang Autonomous Regions throughout the decades.

Besides the partnership assistance, Sichuan also received help from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, as well as foreign governments, enterprises, NGOs and individuals.

When the partnership assistance program concludes in September, a long-term cooperation mechanism will be established between assisting provinces and municipalities and quake-affected cities and counties in Sichuan, Wei said. "The partnership assistance will evolve into partnership cooperation," he said.

His words were echoed by Han Guijin from Beichuan. The industrial and agricultural parks in his new town can help outsource Shandong's labor-intensive industries and boost huge market potential. "In this way, Beichuan is returning the favor and helping Shandong's industrial restructuring," Han said.