China’s “No. 1 central document” for 2026 calls for developing new quality productive forces according to local conditions in agriculture and for strengthening the investigation and protection of rural cultural relics, traditional villages, and intangible cultural heritage (ICH).

As carriers of agrarian civilization and repositories of nostalgia and regional cultural identity, traditional villages occupy a central place in rural cultural revitalization, and their renewal and activation have become an important pillar of the broader rural revitalization strategy.

At present, technology-enabled development in traditional villages still faces numerous challenges. Some villages adopt digital technologies indiscriminately, resulting in facilities that are built but rarely used. In other cases, emerging business models have led to excessive commercialization, diluting cultural authenticity. In many villages, insufficient technological adaptation and weak coordination among stakeholders have created a disconnect between new quality productive forces and local development, leaving the long-standing tension between preservation and development unresolved.

Drawing on field research conducted in traditional villages across southwest China, our research team examines how technologies are implemented on the ground, how production factors are integrated, and how multiple forms of value are coordinated in the empowerment process of new quality productive forces, with the aim of identifying viable pathways for their localization.

New quality productive forces are defined by innovative recombinations of production factors, transformations in modes of production, and improvements in development efficiency. Their application in rural areas is not an abstract economic process; rather, it must be tailored to the specific context of the village—its local resources, social networks, and the needs of local actors—while addressing the core concerns of traditional communities, including resident participation, cultural inheritance and transmission, and the continuity of community life.

From the perspective of factor reconfiguration, the principal bottleneck in the development of traditional villages is the rigidity of production factors, which creates a disconnect between village social ties and economic transformation. In rural society, land serves not only as a means of production but also as a source of identity and a bond within the community. Outward labor migration results not only in the loss of productive resources but also in declining village vitality and disruptions in intergenerational cultural transmission. The primary value of new factors—such as digital technology—is that they can embed themselves within existing village social networks and overcome the constraints of traditional factors, thereby enhancing both economic and social value simultaneously.

Gongtan Ancient Town in Youyang, Chongqing Municipality, provides a typical example. Through a model combining “ICH workshops + digital exhibitions,” the town has created new cultural tourism scenarios, established platforms for villagers’ employment and cultural dissemination, and trained over 20 “digital artisans.” These initiatives have connected new technological factors with local actors, revitalized village social networks, and fostered both cultural inheritance and villagers’ agency.

From the perspective of momentum transformation, traditional villages have often relied on extensive growth models, such as revenue generated primarily through ticket sales. Such approaches tend to sever the link between economic development and the village’s social fabric, overlooking both villagers’ well-being and the authenticity of local culture. The endogenous momentum behind the application of new technologies therefore lies not only in the economic integration of technology and industry, but also in the reconstruction of a village’s social ecosystem—encompassing production, everyday life, and cultural practice—through industrial innovation.

Zhaoxing Dong Village in Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Province, offers one such example. The village has moved away from conventional reliance on ticket revenue, instead promoting the digital preservation and transmission of ICH items such as the Grand Song of the Dong ethnic group. At the same time, it has developed distinctive local products through the advanced processing of specialty agricultural goods, integrated multiple industries to create immersive cultural scenarios, and employed diverse channels to enhance cultural communication and strengthen community identity. These initiatives aim to safeguard cultural authenticity while revitalizing communities, enabling the symbiotic integration of economic and social value and embodying the core theoretical principle of empowering traditional villages through new quality productive forces.

Despite these advances, the application of new quality productive forces in revitalizing and utilizing traditional villages still faces several practical challenges. Key remaining issues stem from three areas: limited technological adaptation, insufficient coordination among stakeholders, and weak institutional support. Addressing these problems requires the development of practical pathways that integrate technological alignment, stakeholder collaboration, and institutional guarantees.

Yang Wenhua is a professor from the College of International Law and Sociology at Sichuan International Studies University.