Small public park in a residential community.	A visiting leader greets a Huai'an resident.	Bochishan Park.

Big Changes in Huai’an

Aunt Fei lives in Yan’an W. Street of Huai’an City, Jiangsu Province. This community, little more than a slum just five years ago, is now generally admired for its pleasant surroundings. Aunt Fei no longer takes the two-stop bus journey to the sports stadium to do her morning exercises; the small park recently incorporated into her community is the perfect spot for Fei and her fellow residents to take their morning constitutional.

Zhou Shengshu is also in good humor these days. His vegetable stall in the Qianjin Road market does a brisk trade, compared to a couple of years ago. The now clean and orderly Qianjin Road was then the stamping ground for peddlers trying to keep one step ahead of the city management corps.

Aunt Fei and Zhou are by no means alone in their satisfaction with daily life. The great changes that have occurred in this small city have lifted the spirits of all Huai’an residents.

Small Aspects that reflect the City Character

Huai’an is a mid-level economy town in the coastal province of Jiangsu. Its attention to detail leaves a favorable impression on visitors to the town. For instance, there are litter-bins every fifty meters along the remotest of streets. There are also roadside benches on which to take a rest, and street parks in which to sit, admire the greenery and renew the spirits. Huai’an’s street lamps light up on time every evening, and there is easy transportation by public bus to all parts of town.

The street peddlers in Huai’an are not the raggle-taggle types frequently seen in other Chinese cities. City residents appreciate the healthy breakfasts and tasty midnight snacks they serve. There are also more than 600 bicycle repair stands bearing the same logo throughout Huai’an.

“A city should start refurbishments on the micro level and move gradually towards the macro. Daily routine matters are the blood in a city's veins that maintains its essential energy. It reflects the soul of a city,” says Liu Xuejun, director of Huai’an Municipal Law-Enforcing Bureau of City Comprehensive Administration.

In the past five years, 90 percent of city construction funds have been poured into reconstruction projects. Those most relevant to daily life, such as environment and hygiene, were given top priority.

Structural Innovation Has Brought much Vitality to the City

A worker at an accounting firm in the Administrating and Approving Service Center is filling out the necessary tax registration forms for her enterprise client. It takes her just ten minutes. Five years ago, the same task would have taken more than a month. The taxation bureau took the lead in simplifying this process in 2002. Four years later, the Huai’an Municipal Government and Municipal Committee of the CPC initiated the Sun Government Project. A standardized service has now been popularized, and administrative efficiency has improved enormously.

Liu Caisheng, 53, has been laid-off for seven or eight years. He suffers from high blood pressure and diabetes. He and his wife live off her pension. In April 2007, Liu had to go into hospital for emergency treatment. His medical costs amounted to a few thousand RMB, but his household was not plunged into debt as a consequence. Under the urban resident medical insurance system, Liu was liable for just a small percentage of his medical expenses. After leaving hospital, he was transferred to the appointed community hospital for daily treatment. Since June 1st 2006 when it was first instituted, urban resident medical insurance has been of huge benefit to 250,000 people, including the aged, children and those under the minimum living standard security system.

Natural disasters often have life-threatening consequences for Chinese farmers. The Huai’an government, in cooperation with China United Property Insurance Company, established agricultural insurance on November 5th 2004 . This businesslike mode of insurance, rather than that in the form of a central government subsidy, guarantees a fixed amount of compensation for Huai’an’s farmers in the event of natural disasters. More than three million farmers have taken part in this pilot project. They are the first in China to experience the security of natural disaster insurance.

High local government efficiency, medical insurance for all urban residents, and site of the country’s first agricultural insurance center-- this series of structural innovations connotes the Huai’an spirit in addition to its upgraded image.