Nanjie

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Nanjie (南街村) is a small village in Chengguan Town, Linying County, Henan, China. It covers about 1.78 square kilometers and has around 3,400 residents (in 2011). The village is often described as the last Maoist-style village in China.

Since 1977, Nanjie has been led by Wang Hongbin, who is known as ban zhang (the village “class monitor”). In 1979 he and colleagues started a flour mill and a brick factory, which helped grow the village’s economy. From 1981 to 1984, Nanjie tested privatizing land and factories under China’s household responsibility system.

In the early 1990s the village gained attention from officials and received large loans for new projects. Nanjie also started hiring many workers from outside the village. The village runs the Nanjie Village Group, which employs residents and pays 30% of salaries in cash while 70% goes to public services.

The village’s economy grew a lot in the 1990s, with GDP rising from tens of millions of yuan to hundreds of millions, then to about 1.8 billion yuan by 1994. From 1998 to 2007, however, GDP fell to about 1.4 billion yuan, and debt rose to more than its annual output by 2007.

Nanjie has many factories and flour mills and produces items like instant noodles and beer. A large number of commuters come from nearby areas to work there; they usually work long hours, get a salary plus free meals and a dormitory, and may have to attend political study sessions after work. The village is famous for public portraits and statues of Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, and Mao, and for its public study sessions and denunciations.

Critics have argued that Nanjie relies on cheap migrant labor and large loans from officials. The village also attracts many visitors as part of “red tourism” to learn about its Maoist-style approach.