中国の「最も裕福な村」　崩れる成功神話を支える共産党

【華西ＡＦＰ＝時事】中国で「最も裕福な村」と呼ばれた東部・江蘇省の華西村。先見の明を持つ一人の共産党員の指導の下、農業を営んでいた村民たちは中国の集産主義の理想に沿いながら大金持ちになり、村は、一党支配を続ける党のプロパガンダ（政治宣伝）にとって格好のモデルとなった。（写真は中国・江蘇省華西村の邸宅）
　しかし、華西の成功神話には陰りが見えている。村を衰退させた縁故主義は、「中国の特色のある資本主義」の落とし穴として大きな教訓になると専門家らはみている。
　上海から約２時間。田舎の農村だった華西を、村の指導者の呉仁宝氏は、４０年以上にわたる経済改革の波に乗って豊かな共同体へと変化させた。この間に中国は、貧困国から大国へと生まれ変わった。
　呉氏は、織物から鉄鋼、不動産まで幅広く手掛ける村の複合企業体「華西集団」を立ち上げ、１００社以上の企業を束ねた。グループ企業は巨額の富を築き、村の上層部は、高い配当金で住民に利益を還元するという新しい手法を取り入れ、称賛を浴びた。
　報道によると、２００４年までに村民の平均年収は１２万２０００元（約２１０万円）を超えた。国内の大半の農業従事者の４０倍だ。華西は、共産党が指導する貧困からの脱却運動の勝ち組となり、邸宅や豪華ホテルが建ち、他国の大学で学位を取得する村民も生まれ、手厚い福祉政策でも他の自治体を抜きんでていた。
　「共産主義者であれば、大多数の人民の幸福を追求するのは当然だ」という呉氏の発言を国営新華社通信は報じている。
　２０１３年に同氏が８４歳で亡くなった時は、葬列に２０台の車が連なり、巨大な遺影は中国の指導層から贈られた造花の花輪で飾られた。
　それから８年を経た今、華西の経済的な離陸は失敗したように見える。
　２月に拡散された動画には、村民たちがＡＴＭ（現金自動預払機）の前に並び、必死に貯金を下ろそうとしている姿が捉えられていた。
　国内メディアによると、取り付け騒ぎの発端は、複合企業体の利益配当が３０％からわずか０．５％まで下がったことだった。一方、村の負債は３８９億元（約６７００億円）まで膨れ上がっている。
　当局者は、ＡＴＭ騒動の映像を本物であると認めたが、華西の財政が破綻したとのうわさは否定した。

■華西は張りぼての村
　華西では自由に取材活動することはできない。現地でのＡＦＰの取材には、政府のお目付け役６人が同行した。村のイメージダウンにつながらないよう、神経をとがらせているようだった。
　呉一族が今でも華西を牛耳っていることは明らかだ。現在の中国でビジネスを成功させるには、共産党とのコネや党への忠誠心が、やはりものをいうことを示している。
　華西集団の集産主義は高い評価を受けているが、華西集団そのものは「同族経営に他ならない」と、中国の政治問題を専門とする米国拠点のコンサルタント会社「シノインサイダー」のアナリスト、ラリー・オン氏は指摘する。
　とはいえ、専門家らは、華西は広告塔としてはまだ価値があるため、中国政府は、特に共産党の創立１００年を迎えた今年は村を見捨てることはないだろうとみている。
　「華西は、現代版のポチョムキン村（実態を隠すための張りぼての施設）のようなものだ」とオン氏は語った。「中国共産党が村を維持しているのは、破綻したイデオロギーを信奉し続けることを正当化するためだ」【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/07/02-15:49）

It was a gilt-edged gift to Communist propaganda: a village led by a Party visionary who transformed farmers into millionaires while tacking close to China's collectivist ideals.
But Huaxi's success story has soured, sunk by a pernicious brew of nepotism and political patronage which experts say may hold wider lessons for the pitfalls of capitalism with Chinese characteristics in a country where power emanates from the Communist Party.
Village chief Wu Renbao transformed Huaxi, a few hours from Shanghai, from a rural backwater into a wealthy collective, surfing China's economic reforms for over four decades as the impoverished nation remade itself into a superpower.
From textiles to steel and real estate, Wu established the Huaxi Group, a village conglomerate of over one hundred companies.
Those minted great wealth and won the village leadership praise for a pioneering approach of returning profits back to residents of China's self-styled richest village via beefy dividends.
By 2004, the average annual income of villagers had reportedly reached over 122,000 yuan ($19,000) -- forty times that of most farmers -- as Huaxi's status as a winner in China's Party-driven march from poverty gleamed back in rows of villas, garish hotels, overseas degrees and generous social welfare schemes.
Communists should seek happiness for the majority of the people, Wu was once quoted by the official Xinhua news agency as saying.
When he died in 2013 at the age of 84, a 20-vehicle procession transported his coffin as a huge photograph lionised the village patron, surrounded by paper flower wreaths sent by China's top leaders.
But eight years on, the village's economic takeoff appears to have crash-landed.
Viral videos shared in February showed residents queueing up at ATMs frantically trying to withdraw their savings, as hard times descend on the village of plenty.
Local media reported the run on the banks was stirred by a collapse of dividends from 30 percent of the conglomerate's profit to just 0.5 percent, with village debt soaring to 38.9 billion yuan ($6 billion).
Authorities have confirmed the images of the ATM run but denied rumours that the town was bankrupt.
It is impossible to report freely in Huaxi -- AFP was accompanied by six government minders on arrival, in a sign of the sensitivity of the village's reputation.
But it is clear that Wu's family still dominate Huaxi, showing that network, connections and loyalty to the Communist Party -- which marks its 100th anniversary on July 1 -- remain the elixir for business success in modern China.
The story of Huaxi is essentially an ugly tale of despotism, said Valarie Tan, analyst at the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Germany.
How a party secretary and his family in China whose power have been unchecked for a very very long time, and that has really led to mismanagement of funds, over leveraging, some really bad investment decisions and some really bad bets.
- All that glitters... -
Faded decorations hang from rusty lamp posts on empty streets, a sad legacy of the village's fiftieth anniversary celebrations held ten years ago.
That event was marked by the inauguration of a 328-metre tower housing a five-star hotel, a giant aquarium, presidential suites and a gold statue of a bull.
The skyscraper cost the village three billion yuan. But there were few customers during a recent AFP visit.
An empty 72nd floor -- which once housed a revolving restaurant with North Korean dancers -- looks out across rows of villas which mostly appeared empty, with disused swimming pools full of muddy water.
Many tourists used to come to Huaxi, one taxi driver told AFP, like many requesting anonymity in the presence of foreign reporters. Things have changed.
Despite its much-lauded collectivism, the Huaxi Group is very much a one-family business, says Larry Ong, of the US-based SinoInsider firm and author of a report on the village.
Key positions in the group and in the village's political hierarchy are held by the Wu family, according to documents seen by AFP.
Eighteen of Wu's relatives are on the village Party Committee.
His eldest son and son-in-law both held vice chairman roles at Huaxi Group.
Wu Xie'en -- who took over from his father as the village chief and chairman of Huaxi Group --- told state media in 2018 the long-term stewardship of the village conglomerate was in good hands.
We are engaged in high-tech research and development, he said. In a few years, everyone will see it's effective.
- 'Modern-day Potemkin village' -
But last year the group, once among the biggest companies in China, disappeared from the top 500 list.
Ong says the branding as a model Communist village always glossed over a sharp social hierarchy, which saw the concentration of wealth diluted each kilometre from the city centre.
At Huaxi's World Park -- a replica-strewn expanse of landmarks from the Arc de Triomphe to the Statue of Liberty -- the lost lustre of affluence can be seen in peeling paint and empty walkways.
Yet experts say the enduring propaganda value of Huaxi means Beijing is unlikely to let the village go to the wall -- especially during its centenary year.
Huaxi is a sort of modern-day Potemkin village that the CCP upholds to justify its continued embrace of a failed ideology, said Ong.