ZENG Daogun, Han ethnicity, is a member of the Communist Party of China. She is a deputy to the 14th National People's Congress (NPC), Secretary of the Party Branch and Director of the Village Committee of Gaotan Village, Lianluo Town, Yantan District, Zigong City, Sichuan Province. She enrolled in the 2019 Rural Revitalisation and Community Governance Grassroots Cadre Academic Advancement Programme at Zigong Open University. She received the honour of National Outstanding Individual in Poverty Alleviation in 2021 and was named a National March 8th Red-Banner Holder in 2025.

In 2011, ZENG returned to her hometown of Gaotan Village in Yantan District, Zigong City. The village was remote, the terrain rugged, the infrastructure poor. Economic gaps yawned wide, and problems left over from years of neglect seemed endless. Yet in ZENG's eyes, it is a mountain village full of hope. She resolutely chose to stay. She started as the village women's director, and gradually grew into the village Party branch secretary and village committee director.

Under ZENGg' s leadership, Gaotan Village has formed a distinctive industrial model. Rice, rapeseed, and soybeans form the agricultural backbone, supplemented by peaches, citrus, crayfish, and layer chickens. Rural tourism and social services have grown alongside traditional farming, creating a diversified economic model that ZENG helped design and nurture. She fulfilled her promise of 'building a happy and beautiful Gaotan'.

At this year's National Two Sessions, ZENG's attention remains focused on rural areas. During her visits and research, she noticed that some rural elderly aged 70 and above struggled with heavy medical insurance burdens, so she suggests exempting rural seniors aged 70 and above from medical insurance payments and appropriately increasing their reimbursement rates for hospitalisation and outpatient chronic disease treatment. Additionally, ZENG advocates for nationwide promotion of a model that blends folk culture, tourism, and rural development, turning folk culture into a "treasure trove" for increasing farmers' income.

Looking back on her journey of duty performance, ZENG noted that if the position of village Party branch secretary brought her physically to the grassroots, then the identity of NPC deputy requires her to engage heart and soul at the grassroots. "Going forward, I will carry this gratitude and reverence, continue to offer policy recommendations, and work step by step alongside fellow villagers," she said.

Source: Sichuan News Network, Sichuan Civilisation Network

WeChat Official Account of the Open University of Sichuan, Cover News

Published: 19 March 2026