Tang Zhiwei and Chen Yao: "Thousands of Villages Project" Explores China's Path to Rural Vitalization
In June 2003, Comrade Xi Jinping, then Secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee, personally planned and deployed the strategic decision for the "Thousand Villages Demonstration and Ten Thousand Villages Renovation" project (referred to hereafter as the "Green Rural Revival Program") [1]. To date, this initiative has spanned 20 years. Over these two decades, Zhejiang has used the transformation of the rural human settlement environment as an entry point to forge a scientific path for rural revitalization construction. It provides essential experiential support for the current focus on comprehensively promoting rural revitalization to leverage overall high-quality development, and it merits our profound study and reference.
I. Upholding the Original Aspiration: Taking a People-Centered Approach as the Fundamental Guideline for Rural Revitalization
The proposal for rural revitalization is grounded in the reality of the vast discrepancy caused by rapid urban development and lagging rural progress. To revitalize the countryside and narrow the urban-rural gap, one must proceed from the perspective of rural residents.
Throughout the 20-year continuation of the "Green Rural Revival Program," various practices have consistently embodied the fundamental guideline of being people-centered. First, it consistently approaches problems from the rural residents' perspective. After conducting investigations in Zhejiang, Comrade Xi Jinping once remarked: “If a person’s home is clean and the environment is good, their confidence in how they conduct themselves and handle affairs will increase; humans change the environment, and the environment, in turn, influences people.” Starting from the most urgent needs of rural residents and centering on the "single main line" of urban-rural integration, the program established "eight demonstrations" and "eight transformations" [2]. It advanced the "three revolutions" in waste, sewage, and toilets across the entire region. By renovating the visage of Zhejiang’s countryside—including roads, waterways, and housing—it created a livable rural ecological environment and put into practice the concept that "clear waters and green mountains are as valuable as mountains of gold and silver" [3]. Second, it takes the improvement of people's wellbeing as the ultimate goal. The program sets the elevation of rural quality of life as its basic objective, a complex and vital task of great significance for promoting rural development and realizing a happy life for farmers. By focusing on rural infrastructure construction, the development of education and healthcare, cultural construction, and social services, the program built "public service circles" and "medical and health service circles." This has tangibly benefited rural residents, effectively improved their living conditions, enhanced their sense of gain, happiness, and identity, and promoted the comprehensive development of the countryside.
II. Precise Identification: Scientific Positioning of Rural Development Paths Based on Local Conditions
Precise positioning of development paths is the prerequisite for scientific planning; the first step in revitalizing the countryside is finding an appropriate developmental path. The logic of urban and rural development differs greatly, and production methods, lifestyles, and resource endowments present a scenario where every village is unique. To ensure that scientific planning comes first, one must comprehensively understand the current status of rural development. "No investigation, no right to speak" [4]. After 118 days of extensive and in-depth investigation, General Secretary Xi Jinping accumulated field data from 11 prefecture-level cities and 25 counties. Based on specific conditions such as local geographical features, industrial structures, and fiscal revenue/expenditure, he formulated differentiated implementation standards for villages. For instance, Jingshan Village in Yuhang District, Hangzhou, features tea as its specialty, while Tangdi Village in Keqiao District, Shaoxing, features orchids. The essence of this is to persist in seeking truth from facts by adjusting measures to local conditions and providing category-based guidance. This allows for the full utilization of resources to form local characteristics—thereby gaining a comparative developmental advantage—while simultaneously accounting for local development levels within the overall framework. This achieves the optimal solution for regional development to narrow the overall urban-rural gap. Through scientific positioning, one can avoid over-exploitation of resources and environmental damage, achieving a win-win for both economic and ecological benefits.
III. Persisting Over the Long Term: Strengthening Execution to Empower Endogenous Rural Development Drivers
The most difficult dilemma to overcome in rural development is the lack of endogenous development drivers, an issue that has long been the crux restricting high-quality and sustainable rural development.
At the launch of the "Green Rural Revival Program," Comrade Xi Jinping proposed that farmers should play the principal role. Farmers are the core of rural revitalization and the primary force for driving endogenous development. However, cultivating such drivers is not an overnight task; it requires a multi-dimensional action network, such as coordination mechanisms, to exert force together over the long term. First, the program established an orderly coordination mechanism, taking "shared construction and shared benefits" as the guiding philosophy. Regarding specific affairs, it adheres to the principle that "village matters are decided through collective consultation," making decisions only after full discussion by village cadres and villager representatives. Second, the program clarified the boundaries between the roles of the government and the farmers. It adhered to a promotion mechanism where the government guides and inputs momentum, while the rural farmers shape the primary impetus and social forces provide active support. By strengthening execution and encouraging the investment of financial resources, a situation is formed where the Party and government lead, all parties collaborate, and responsibilities are assigned at each level, thereby enhancing both endogenous and exogenous drivers. For 20 years, the program has been executed by handling one matter after another and working year after year. An action plan is released every five years, continuously advancing and persisting over the long term.
IV. Insight into the Global Picture: Theoretical Foundations Highlighting Scientific Deployment
The 20-year continuous development of Zhejiang’s "Green Rural Revival Program" offers rich reference significance for the overall strategic deployment of China’s rural revitalization. Under the fundamental principle of staying people-centered and upholding the logic of "suitable to do, able to do, and getting it done," this trajectory showcases the essence of Chinese-path modern governance. First, it profoundly embodies a systems perspective. Within Chinese modern governance and the study of rural governance and urban-rural development, the village unit is viewed as a complex, dynamically changing system. In this system, elements such as natural resources, government support, and resident literacy interact to form an organic whole. The program achieved overall coordination in top-level design and a multi-dimensional balance of policy goals, proceeding step-by-step from an understanding of system elements to achieve dynamic systemic balance. Second, it comprehensively applies holistic governance methods. Holistic governance emphasizes looking at issues from a global perspective—focusing on both immediate development and long-term sustainability—and adopting integrated, comprehensive measures to solve complex problems or achieve systemic improvements. The program possesses scientific decision-making, strategic foresight, and persistence in execution, maximizing the overall effect across rural areas and between urban and rural Zhejiang. This inspires us that in the process of promoting rural revitalization, we must think with a systems perspective to integrate various elements organically. Simultaneously, we must fully utilize holistic governance methods, focusing on long-term development and integrated measures. Only in this way can we achieve the long-term goals of rural revitalization and advance the process of China’s modern governance.
Surveys show that over the past 20 years, the "Green Rural Revival Program" has driven 4.78 million farmers to seek employment or start businesses. In 2022, the per capita disposable income of rural residents in Zhejiang reached 37,565 yuan. This has not only directly increased rural income levels but also narrowed the urban-rural income gap from a factor of 2.43 at the program’s inception to 1.90. Regarding the improvement of human settlement environments, the sewage treatment coverage in key planned villages has reached 100%, and the "toilet revolution" has achieved full coverage of sanitary toilets, forging a path of sustainable development emphasizing ecology. Furthermore, on the international stage, the program has demonstrated the Chinese-path to rural revitalization to the world, winning the UN "Champions of the Earth" award in September 2018. This series of achievements has become a benchmark for rural revitalization. Even more noteworthy is that digital technology in rural society, as a form of resource development, is quietly changing the production structures and endogenous values within rural revitalization through its embedding. As uncertain governance scenarios increase, we should further explore what constitutes the "Chinese solution" for rural revitalization.