HANGZHOU, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- A 28-year-old man who returned from studying in England and was then elected village head in an east China province is the first village head to hold an overseas master's degree.

Zhang Wenqiong got a master's degree in management at a London-based graduate school. In July he was elected head of his hometown, Xiaokeng village in coastal Wenzhou city of Zhejiang Province, cornering 385 votes from 405 voters.

"I will give the job everything I have and take new measures to develop our village," said Zhang in a post-election speech.

"We are very happy to have a young man educated overseas return and contribute to the development of the village," said Zhang Houjin, former head of Xiaokeng village. "He will be a good village head. I have been looking for a capable man like him to succeed me for a long time."

Xiaokeng is a poverty-stricken mountain village with per capital income of only 2,281 yuan (285 U.S. dollars) in 2005, just one third that of nearby Wenzhou city.

Zhang was shocked by the poverty of his fellow villagers when he returned home after graduation.

"Villagers' living conditions have made little progress in nearly 20 years," he said, "I hope I could do something for my fellow villagers."

Zhang Wenqiong used to work as a company manager in Shanghai and was a shareholder in a Tianjin real estate company. He gave more than one million yuan (125,000 U.S. dollars) to the village this April, aiming to improve living conditions.

Villagers were touched by Zhang's behavior and asked him repeatedly to be village head.

However, some discordant voices were heard about Zhang's election.

"It's hard to believe that Zhang quit a high-salary job in the city to become head of a poor village. He may have some unspoken reasons, " said a villager who preferred to remain anonymous.

There were even suspicions that he had made the financial contribution in a bid to win the election.

"Nothing will persuade people better than the efforts I make," Zhang said.

Shortly after he assumed office, street lighting has appeared, new country roads and water reservoirs are under construction, and public toilets are planned.

Zhang is not alone. Many college graduates are involved in developing rural areas.

"About 150,000 college graduates will work in all kinds of grass-roots units in 2006," said a source with the Ministry of Education.

With the development gap between urban areas and rural areas ringing alarm bells in high places, the central government last year launched a policy of building a "new socialist countryside" with higher productivity, more educational and cultural opportunities, tidy appearance and democratic management.

Measures have been taken to encourage college students to work in rural areas, such as giving them 10 extra points at the postgraduate entrance examination, or even accepting them as postgraduate candidates without exams if they have worked at grassroots level for two years.

College students who work in rural areas will get special living allowances of 600-800 yuan (76-101 U.S. dollars) a month.

Zhang Wenqiong admitted it's much harder to develop the village than to run a company. "Many peasants are still conservative in outlook. It takes huge efforts to persuade them," he said.

"I hope I can bring great changes to the village during my two-year term," Zhang said confidently, "and then if they still need me, I will be glad to stay." Enditem