In the past 70 years since the founding of thePeople's Republic of China, earthshaking changes have taken place to the lifeof Jingzhou's urban and rural residents. Over the 70 years, Jingzhou's residentincome has surged amid twists and turns. With the continuous increase inincome, the life of the ordinary people has changed dramatically, theirconsumption has gone with the times, their basic necessities of life haveimproved greatly, their consumption level has leaped, and their happiness andsense of gain have been enhanced gradually.
Bi Shangwen lives in Guomailing Village,Tuanshansi Town, Shishou. A 20-mu verdurous vineyard is his property. Thissummer he could earn over 500,000 yuan from grape sales if the yield per mu is3,000 jin. Before 2000, he planted traditional grain and oil crops, and livedin a brick house. He recalled that the paths in the village were disconnectedfrom the provincial highway outside, it is inconvenient to go out, let alone transportagricultural products out.
After the Third Plenary Session of the 11thCPC Central Committee, the country released a series of measures fordistribution system reform, to enhance economic vitality. The wideimplementation of the house contract responsibility system aroused farmers'production enthusiasm, and boosted labor productivity, land yield and farmers'income. The annual per capita disposable income of Jingzhou's rural residentssoared 4.6 times from 122 yuan to 682 yuan from 1978 to 1991, with an annualgrowth rate of 14.2 percent.
In 2004， the country implemented the rural tax reform.To arouse farmers' enthusiasm about grain growing, the country began tosubsidize grain growing, truly benefited farmers and made them enjoy theoutcomes of the reform and opening-up through direct subsidies for graingrowers, comprehensive subsidies for agricultural means of production,subsidies for growing superior crop varieties, subsidies for agriculturalmachinery purchase and subsidies for converting cultivated land into forests.
The change to Bi's life is an epitome of anera. With the deepening of economic and social development and the economicsystem reform, the income of Jingzhou's urban and rural residents has graduallyincreased, the sources and structures of resident income have become morediversified, the sources of income have changed from wages income into four incomes,operating income has gradually become a key highlight of resident income increase,and the pattern of urban residents relying on wages and rural residents relyingon agriculture has been broken.
Over the 70 years, Jingzhou's rural residentshave experienced three leaps: the per capita disposable income of ruralresidents exceeded 1,000 yuan in 1994 and 10,000 yuan in 2013. Since the 18thNational People's Congress, Jingzhou has actively adapted to the new economicnormal, advanced the supply-side structural reform and made progress whileensuring stability, thus accomplishing industrial development, rejuvenating ruralareas, speeding up tourism development, transforming urban areas, greatlyimproving the people's livelihood and promoting the steady growth of urban andrural resident income. In 2018, the per capital disposal income of Jingzhou'surban residents and rural residents was 32,590 yuan and 17,300 yuanrespectively, up 13,436 yuan or 70.1 percent and 7,385 yuan or 74.5 percentfrom 2012, registering an average annual growth rate of 9.3 percent and 9.7percent from 2012.