Hu Yuegao, a professor at the college of agriculture and biotechnology at China Agriculture University, has directed his research focus towards cunguan, or village officials, since 2004 and published a report on the group earlier this year. He talked with METRO reporter Meng Jing about his views on the status quo and the development of the group.

How many university graduates are currently working in Beijing as village cadres?

According to our research, by the end of 2008 there are around 130,000 university students who work in villages all over China. In Beijing, there are about 10,000 village cadres.

Has Beijing received an increasing number of applicants over the past three years?

2006 is the first year that Beijing started recruiting university graduates to work as village officials. From 2006 to 2008, Beijing usually recruited one in six applicants but in 2009, 19,376 students applied for only 1,847 positions. This is an admission rate of around 10 percent. It shows that the system of university student village officials is becoming more acceptable among university students.

The first batch of village officials who started in 2006 have now just completed their contracts. Have they all found work?

Most of them have found jobs. This optimistic result will attract more university applicants for the coming year.

Why would a university student want to work as a village official?

Different people have different ideas. Some of them want to challenge themselves, some want to build a better future for village residents, and others simply want to have the chance to work in Beijing.

What is the most difficult part for university students working as village officials?

Subjectively, how they can use their knowledge to contribute to the development of the villages. Objectively, the village cadre program is developing. It needs improvement in terms of training, work and favorable policies after university graduates finish their three-year contract with villages.

Are they able to accommodate themselves in villages and practice what they have learned?

Most of them can easily adapt themselves to village life. It's perfect for students who study agriculture, law and engineering to apply their knowledge to their daily work.

Why do you think more village officials are choosing to become civil servants after they finish their contracts with villages?

The policy doesn't require them to stay in villages forever. In the three years of contracted service, they may find they have the ability to do great things in villages.

However, it will take them more than three years, perhaps even their entire life, to make substantial changes to those villages. Some of them are not ready for that.

What can university graduates bring to villages?

For most university students, it's just a three-year experience.

But for the villages, it's a non-stop transfer of knowledge. Our country requires support from a strong agriculture sector.

Those university students with great understanding in science and technology will definitely improve our agriculture.

What is the future of the village cadre program?

The program will become more developed.

It will attract those who have a sincere desire to work in villages and build better lives for locals.

And those people will definitely become a powerful team in the country's development.
 

（www.eduwo.com, Anna）