Nahui Village at Xingyi City, Guizhou Province, carried out projects to protect the Wanfeng Forest that surrounds it. (ZGB.MOF.GOV.CN)

“Make agriculture a promising industry, farming an attractive occupation and rural areas beautiful places to live and work,” the CPC Central Committee and State Council pledged in the recently released No. 1 Central Document. Outlining a roadmap for agricultural, rural and farmer issues, the policy statement is consistent with the rural vitalization strategy put forward at the 19th CPC National Congress last year.

Issues related to agriculture, rural areas, and rural people are fundamental to China’s national stability and the public’s well-being. The document comes as socialism with Chinese characteristics enters a new era and the principal contradiction facing Chinese society has evolved, said Tian Yipeng, director of the School of Philosophy and Sociology at Jilin University.

Zhang Dawei, an associate professor at the Center of Chinese Rural Studies at Central China Normal University, said that the strategy of rural vitalization is needed to address the contradiction between unbalanced, inadequate development and the people’s ever-growing demand for a better life. The strategy is also essential to realizing the Two Centenary Goals and achieving common prosperity.

The problem of unbalanced, inadequate development is especially obvious in the countryside, Tian said. “China cannot achieve modernization unless the rural areas are modernized.”

For the first time, the document put forward the three steps for rural vitalization, Zhang said. By 2020, an institutional framework and policy system should be basically established. By 2035, decisive progress should be made with basic modernization of agriculture and rural areas. By 2050, rural areas should see comprehensive vitalization featuring strong agriculture, a beautiful countryside and prosperous farmers.

Each year for the past few years, a central document has been issued concerning agriculture, rural areas and rural people. This year’s document has new features.

Unlike the majority of the previous documents, which prioritized rural economic development, this year’s document attached more importance to overall development, Tian said. The document urged to make overall plans to promote rural economic, political, cultural, social development, ecological civilization and Party building.

Wang Xingguo, deputy secretary of the CPC Committee at the Shandong Academy of Social Sciences, said that the document elevated the ecological issue to an unprecedented level, demanding to firmly establish the idea that clear waters and green mountains are invaluable assets, and put it into practice so that rural vitalization is facilitated by green development.

The strategy of rural vitalization highlights thriving businesses, a pleasant living environment, social etiquette and civility, effective governance and prosperity. To implement the strategy, talent, capital and resources need to be concentrated into rural areas, said Tian.

The document highlights various forms of institutional supply and a series of important strategies, major initiatives and projects to support the implementation of the strategy. In terms of institutional supply, people should focus on perfecting the system of property rights and market-oriented factor allocation and activate the main agents, factors and market. At the same time, it is crucial to highlight and consolidate basic management in rural areas while reforming the rural land system as well as the rural collective property rights system and improving the system of agricultural support and protection, Wang said.

A series of strategies need to be formulated and implemented in areas including grain storage and accumulation, agricultural technology, quality agriculture, and digital village, Wang said. People also need to promote green agriculture and industries in villages, enhancing agricultural products processing industry and the export of agricultural products with special advantages. Furthermore, employment and entrepreneurship need to be promoted, the rural living environment needs to be improved, and poverty needs to be further addressed.

Projects need to be carried out on smart agriculture, forestry water conservancy, leisure agriculture and rural tourism, eco-protection and restoration, security, and drinking water safety upgrading. In addition, training of the new type of agricultural business management also needs to be provided, Wang added.