Wang Musen: The "Green Rural Revival Program" Initiates a New Journey in Rural Residential Environment Governance
The 20th National Congress of the CPC emphasized that on the new journey of the New Era, to comprehensively build a modern socialist country and comprehensively advance rural revitalization, we must further "coordinate the layout of rural infrastructure and public services, and build beautiful and harmonious villages that are pleasant to live and work in." In 2003, during his tenure in Zhejiang, General Secretary Xi Jinping led the people of Zhejiang in vigorously launching the "Thousand-Village Demonstration and Ten-Thousand-Village Renovation" project (hereafter the "Project"). This initiative took the lead nationally in launching the remediation of rural living environments, initiating the great practice of rural living environment governance in China for the new century and the New Era. It set a good pace and opened a new chapter for comprehensively advancing the modernization of Chinese-path rural governance, laying a solid foundation for rural living environment governance in the New Era.
The "Project" initiates the construction of "ecological, pleasant, and harmonious villages."
The "Project" was an important decision personally planned, deployed, and promoted by General Secretary Xi Jinping while working in Zhejiang. For over 20 years—evolving from "demonstration and renovation" to "exquisite and beautiful villages," and further to "future villages and common prosperity"—it has created thousands of beautiful villages and benefited millions of farmers. It has established a "Zhejiang model" and a developmental foundation for the construction of harmonious rural areas and environment governance across the country. A harmonious and pleasant rural living environment is a major issue concerning the better life of farmers. "In building a modern socialist country in all respects, the most arduous and heavy tasks remain in the rural areas." Whether agriculture is strong, the countryside is beautiful, and farmers are wealthy determines the sense of gain and happiness of hundreds of millions of farmers; it determines the "finish" [1] of our comprehensive completion of a moderately prosperous society and the quality of our comprehensive construction of a modern socialist country. Improving the rural living environment and building beautiful, harmonious villages is the deep aspiration of the masses. It is an important task and a key lever for comprehensively advancing Chinese-path modernization and rural revitalization. It concerns the comprehensive building of a moderately prosperous society and a modern socialist country, the people's better life and health, rural social civilization and harmony, common prosperity for farmers, and the construction of a Beautiful China. From this, it is easy to see that the "Project" launched by Zhejiang in 2003 initiated the governance actions to improve China's rural living environment in the new century and the New Era.
The logic of rural living environment governance in the "Project" and "Chinese-path modernization."
Chinese-path modernization is the modernization of a huge population, of common prosperity for all, of material and cultural-ethical advancement, of harmony between humanity and nature, and of peaceful development. The Chinese characteristics of Chinese-path modernization indicate that advancing this process requires realizing the people's desire for a better life, building a Beautiful China, building socialism, and achieving common prosperity. This is both the essential issue in comprehensively building Chinese-path modernization and the logic of the problem in rural living environment governance. Improving the rural living environment is a key task in implementing the rural revitalization strategy and a practical requirement and manifestation of building Chinese-path rural modernization. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, "For China to achieve modernization, every aspect must become strong"; the living environment must also become strong. Implementing rural living environment governance is a basic element and internal requirement for "every aspect becoming strong"—including creating a better life, building a Beautiful China, building socialism, achieving common prosperity, and advancing rural revitalization—within the process of comprehensively building Chinese-path modernization. It is the logical emergence and practical expansion of achieving "Chinese-path modernization of the living environment."
The "Project's" rural living environment governance: "Goals absorbing development."
To achieve the "Two Centenary Goals" of "comprehensively building a moderately prosperous society and comprehensively building a great modern socialist country," solving the "Three Rural Issues" [2] and achieving the modernization of agriculture, rural areas, and farmers has always been the top priority. Guided by the Two Centenary Goals and oriented toward the Three Rural Issues and urban-rural integrated development, the Party and the state have, since the start of the new century, formulated a sequence of policy goals: "New Socialist Countryside, Beautiful Countryside, Comprehensive Rural Revitalization, and Comprehensive Rural Modernization." Under the "dual absorption" of the Two Centenary Goals and these progressively advancing policy targets, rural living environment governance has germinated through exploration, developed through implementation, deepened through advancement, and achieved overall elevation, evolving continuously. Specifically, the rural living environment governance of the "Project" was manifested in the new century through Party congress documents, the Central No. 1 Documents [3] addressing the Three Rural Issues, and a series of policy documents issued by the CPC Central Committee, the State Council, and various ministries. Based on the developmental themes of the past 20 years, strategies for solving the Three Rural Issues, and the policy cluster for rural living environment governance, the "Project" has moved through four ascending stages: the period of germinal exploration (New Socialist Countryside construction), the period of developmental implementation (Beautiful Countryside construction), the period of deepened advancement (comprehensive rural revitalization), and the period of overall elevation (comprehensive construction of rural modernization).
The "Project's" rural living environment governance: "Drawing one blueprint to the end."
From the launch of the "Project" in Zhejiang in 2003 to the 2006 Central No. 1 Document which deepened the "Project" and first proposed implementing rural living environment governance; from the 2018 launch of the "Three-Year Action Plan" to the 2021 formal implementation of the "Five-Year Action Plan for Rural Living Environment Remediation and Elevation," the three-year goals have been fully completed. Through the promotion of 19 Central No. 1 Documents, specialized documents, and other deployments—alongside over 20 years of innovative local implementation—the "Four Beams and Eight Pillars" [4] of the rural living environment policy system have been fully erected. The situation of rural disorder and filth has been reversed, the quality of life for farmers has generally improved, and the campaign to improve the rural living environment has entered a new stage. As both a "tough battle" [5] and a "war of resistance" (protracted war), rural living environment governance has leaped from the "Zhejiang version" to a "national version." By using scientific planning as a guide, drawing one blueprint to the end, and persisting over the long term with full effort and coordinated advancement, the rural living environment has been continuously improved, turning the vast countryside into a land of charm and hope.
The "Project's" rural living environment governance exhibits "co-governance" characteristics.
Over the past 20 years, rural living environment governance has followed a path of socialist living environment governance with Chinese characteristics, forming "Party-led co-governance" features: First, a linked governance combining top-down and bottom-up approaches across regional levels. Second, collaborative governance involving diverse and multi-party construction, governance, and sharing. Third, categorized and domain-specific governance of content. This has formed five major governance types—toilet sanitation, domestic waste, domestic sewage, village planning, and village appearance—all advancing in stages and with concerted effort. Fourth, governance principles rooted in the people, green development, common effort, synergy, categorization, systematic approach, planning, and goal-orientation. These unique characteristics represent both the basic laws of China's "Three Rural" governance over the past 20 years and a significant institutional advantage. The CPC Central Committee provides top-level design, while the "Five-Level Secretaries" [6] (Provincial, Municipal, County, Township, and Village) personally lead the remediation. Notably, the Zhejiang "Project" was initiated by Xi Jinping in 2003 when he was Secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee; since then, he has issued multiple instructions to promote this model nationwide, while placing high importance on national rural living environment governance through numerous speeches and directives. This political momentum—characterized by high-level planning, high-position promotion, and high-efficiency implementation—has driven the rapid expansion of rural living environment governance nationwide. Meanwhile, governments at all levels have been proactive, effectively leveraging their policy execution, resource integration, service delivery, and developmental drive. The convergence of "Party, government, society, enterprise, and the masses" has pushed rural living environment governance toward multi-dimensional and multi-elemental development.
New tasks in a new century, a new mission on a new journey. Rural living environment governance based on the "Project" serves as a beautiful ecological project, a project for people's livelihoods and happiness, a project for justice in the hearts of the people, and a project for harmony and civilization. It is a major decision made from a strategic and global perspective to improve the rural living environment and build ecological, pleasant, and harmonious villages. Over the past 20 years, the "Project" has progressed continuously across different stages, types, and regions, achieving milestone successes and historic victories. It has improved farmers' lives, promoted common prosperity, and laid a solid foundation for the first centenary goal. Today, with the goal of comprehensive rural revitalization mapped out, further brilliance remains to be created. On the new journey, we must consistently and unswervingly advance the chapter of rural living environment governance to lay an even firmer and more beautiful foundation for the comprehensive construction of a great modern socialist country.