Chinese 'trash town' seeks clean future

GUANGZHOU -- Wu Jianchong, 25, hoped to find a job in Shenzhen, 200 km from his hometown, and he could not wait for Spring Festival to end and his job hunt to begin.

"I want a stable, nine-to-five job," he said.

From Jieshi Township, notorious for illegal trade in old clothes smuggled from overseas, from his high school days, Wu helped his parents collect, clean and sell such clothes.

In July, the government banned imports of 24 categories of waste, including textiles. Jieshi bore the brunt of the crackdowns on smuggling that followed.

Now, like Wu, many villagers who were involved in the trade have switched or plan to switch to other jobs.

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CAST-OFF HEAVEN

With a population of 260,000, Jieshi had over 5,000 clothing shops, with up to 50,000 people involved.

The business began shortly after reform and opening up, as Jieshi locals working in Hong Kong and Macao brought cast-off garments back to their hometown.

For more than 30 years, used clothes were smuggled to Jieshi, welcomed by locals, since the business required little capital or technology.

Wu Zhijian made more than 200 yuan (31.5 U.S. dollars) a day, with each garment priced at two or three yuan, but the days of villages brimming with second-hand clothing wholesalers are a thing of the past.

In 2017, 3,279 shops and 3,017 sorting site were closed, and more than 9,000 tonnes of textiles seized, according to Chen Qinghe, an official in Lufeng City, which administers Jieshi.

Customs officers claimed that, from unknown sources and without proper disinfection or quarantine, the old clothes are pollutants and a health hazard health.

"Villagers handling the waste clothing are vulnerable to respiratory diseases," said Lin Kunlian, head of Jieshi government. "We must end the business."

NEW JOBS FOR OLD

As the old moneymaker crumbled, the local government offered help, organizing three job fairs for villagers. Participating companies, including the leading new energy vehicle maker BYD, have recruited more than 600 people and shown interest in more than 1,900 others.

The government plans to building a food mall and a hardware industrial park, according to Xu Weiming, mayor of Lufeng.

In addition, a local middle school will be transformed into a vocational school to prepare job seekers.

Now, Wu Zhijian works as a carpenter. He and his wife, a supermarket employee, can earn more than 4,000 yuan a month.

"Sure, there is dust when I work with wood, but it is not as choking as the dust I breathed when unfolding the waste clothes," he said.