ZHOU Changyou, a member of the Communist Party of China, serves as a deputy to the 14th National People’s Congress (NPC). He holds positions as both Party Branch Secretary and Director of the Maiziyuan Villagers’ Committee, Niujiaoba Town, Lengshuitan District, Yongzhou City, Hunan Province. Enrolled in 2016, he was a graduate of Law from Hunan Open University. ZHOU was honoured as “National Outstanding Migrant Worker” in August 2020. Under his leadership, the Maiziyuan Village Party Branch received the “National Outstanding Collective in Poverty Alleviation” award in February 2020.
Once an impoverished village at the provincial level plagued by geographical isolation, water scarcity, and severe population drain, Maiziyuan Village witnessed mass migration of disillusioned residents. Under ZHOU’s leadership, Maiziyuan Village has paved asphalt roads and introduced bus services, and provided villagers with access to running water. The village’s tea-oil trees also contribute for the increased income for the villagers.
ZHOU noted that during the Two Sessions last year, his recommendation on the tea-oil industry received prompt response from the National Forestry and Grassland Administration. Boosted by government-backed incentives, villagers are enthusiastic about planting the tea-oil trees. “With governmental subsidies, free high-quality seedlings, expert’s onsite guidance, network sales, who will be reluctant to join in the tree planting?
“The area of tea-oil forests in the village has increased by approximately 131.80 acres (equivalent to 800 mu), with an increased income of around RMB24,280 yuan (approximately USD 3,360, according to the current exchange rate) per acre.” ZHOU also added that such outcomes increase his confidence as people’s “representative”.
In 2025, ZHOU places his focus on promoting waste plastic recycling and fostering the circular economy development. He emphasised that improving the plastic recycling efficiency serves multiple objectives: optimising comprehensive resource utilisation efficiency, achieving high-value reprocessing, reducing the rely on new fossil raw materials, and minimizing incineration-related carbon emissions, which will be crucial for achieving China’s targets of carbon peak and carbon neutrality. In addition, he suggested that the government should move faster to roll out policies for standardised childcare fees and to provide more financial support for childcare and preschool institutions to ensure sustainable and stable development of integrated childcare and preschool education systems.
Source: Compiled from Hunan Daily, Hunan TV News, and Yongzhou News Network