Li Bin, Sun Xue, and Fang Lu: Green Rural Revival Program: The Path to Modernization of Chinese-Style Rural Governance
The "Thousands of Villages Demonstration and Ten Thousand Villages Renovation" Project (hereinafter referred to as the "Green Rural Revival Program") is a major undertaking proposed by General Secretary Xi Jinping during his tenure in Zhejiang. It is based on the philosophy that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" [1] and aims to improve rural living environments to create beautiful villages that are pleasant to live in and conducive to business. Over the past 20 years, Zhejiang Province has solidly promoted the Green Rural Revival Program, persisting over the long term to achieve a tremendous improvement in the rural ecological environment across the province. This has laid a solid foundation for promoting rural revitalization and common prosperity, making the province an important source of inspiration for rural ecological environment rectification in China and contributing "Chinese wisdom" and "Chinese solutions" to the international community for rural revitalization.
Effective governance is one of the general requirements for achieving rural revitalization, and rural revitalization objectively demands the modernization of rural governance. Reviewing the 20-year practical journey of Zhejiang’s Green Rural Revival Program, the key governance experiences include the guidance of Party building, the centrality of the masses, the guarantee of the rule of law, the promotion of the rule of virtue, and digital empowerment. In the New Era, it is necessary to uphold and develop these governance experiences from the Green Rural Revival Program to empower the path of Chinese-path modernization in rural governance and better promote rural revitalization and the construction of a Beautiful China.
I. Guidance of Party building: Comprehensively upholding the Party’s leadership and unswervingly grasping the direction of progress.
Upholding the guidance of Party building is a vital experience of Zhejiang’s Green Rural Revival Program. Since its implementation, Zhejiang has adhered to high-level promotion, with the "top leaders" of the Party and government personally taking charge. By upholding and strengthening the Party's leadership and leveraging the Party’s organizational and political advantages—as well as the role of key Party members descending to the grassroots—the province has promoted the development of rural industries and the improvement of the ecological environment. During his tenure in Zhejiang, General Secretary Xi Jinping attended the provincial Green Rural Revival Program field meetings every year, explicitly requiring that the "top leaders" of local Party and government organs personally intervene in all major issues related to the program. This formed a work promotion mechanism where "top leaders" personally took charge, specialized leaders directly managed, and responsibilities were pressed down through every level of the hierarchy. This ensured that the fruits of rural modernization benefited all farmers more equitably.
To promote the modernization of rural governance in the New Era, we must uphold the guidance of Party building and implement the Party's leadership in every aspect and link of grassroots governance. General Secretary Xi Jinping has referred to grassroots Party organizations as the "last mile" [2] for implementing the decision-making and deployments of the Party Central Committee. He proposed a clear orientation toward prioritizing the grassroots, calling for the rapid filling of gaps in the leadership of grassroots governance by Party organizations to build them into strong "fighting fortresses" [3] for realizing the Party's leadership. We must persist in Party building guidance and holistic planning to ensure all tasks are implemented. We must strengthen the construction of grassroots Party organizations, discharge their primary responsibilities, and focus on the difficulties and pain points of grassroots governance. We must improve the quality of key Party members, sending them down to the grassroots to investigate popular sentiment and improve service levels to meet the people's aspirations for a better life. We must leverage the "leading sheep" role of village-level officials, institutionalizing Party guidance through methods such as "First Secretaries," "cadres assuming responsibility for villages," "village-stationed work teams," and "one person shouldering both burdens" [4] at the village level, thereby providing organizational guarantees and human resources for rural revitalization.
II. Practicing Autonomy: Upholding the principal status of the masses and stimulating enthusiasm for participation.
Villager autonomy is a great creation of the grassroots masses under the leadership of the Party and an important manifestation of grassroots consultative democracy. In the process of implementing the Green Rural Revival Program, Zhejiang Province has consistently upheld the system of villager autonomy and protected the rights of villagers. Various localities have introduced diverse autonomous systems such as "villager supervision" and "villager appraisals" to ensure that grassroots management is neither absent nor overstepping. In the process of building beautiful villages, the province has fully leveraged the principal role of farmers, giving them the initiative and the right to speak in village rectification, creating a favorable situation where "everyone thinks toward the same goal and exerts effort in the same direction." By constructing autonomous platforms such as "People’s Deliberation Councils," "鄉賢 (Local Gentry) Consultative Councils," and "Hundred-Affairs Service Groups," the people truly act as masters of their own affairs. These measures have injected powerful momentum into the masses’ efforts to build happy homes through autonomous systems.
To promote the modernization of rural governance in the New Era, we must maintain mass autonomy and guarantee the people’s status as masters of the country. General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized the need to leverage the roles of all sectors of society, stimulate the vitality of the entire society, and ensure that "the masses' affairs are discussed with the masses." Under the Party's leadership, more authority should be yielded to mass autonomy to provide greater space for activity, ensuring that self-education, self-management, self-supervision, and self-service are truly implemented. Regarding grassroots management, we must comprehensively deepen the "delegate power, improve regulation, and upgrade services" (放管服) reform [5] and "one-stop" services, promoting the descent of management resources to the grassroots. This will mobilize the initiative and enthusiasm of the people to build beautiful homes and give them a greater sense of participation and honor, thereby revitalizing rural autonomy and promoting the development of rural governance modernization.
III. Strengthening the Rule of Law: Systematic and comprehensive deployment to open the "last mile" of rural legal popularization.
The essence of the modernization of rural governance systems and capabilities is legalization; the rule of law is the fundamental guarantee for rural "good governance." Since the implementation of the Green Rural Revival Program, Zhejiang has increased rural legal construction. In the "Eight-Eight Strategy" [6] decision made by the Provincial Party Committee in 2003, legal construction was listed as a central task. The province planned the overall strategic layout of "Rule of Law Zhejiang" and conducted local pilot projects following solid preparations, leading to a year-on-year increase in public satisfaction. In recent years, the pace of legal construction in Zhejiang has never ceased. Aligning with Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law and under the advocacy of "Internet + Rule of Law," the province has carried out legal publicity and education through a combination of online and offline methods, including legal lectures and consultations. Using the National Anti-Fraud Center App and other tools, it has widely popularized legal knowledge. By 2023, more than 90% of villages at or above the county level in Zhejiang were designated as "Democratic and Legal Villages," with a cumulative total of 1,643 such villages at the provincial level or above. Furthermore, 17,784 villages have implemented the "one village, one auxiliary police officer" system, and 18,886 villages have established legal advisors and legal service workshops.
To promote the modernization of rural governance in the New Era, we must strengthen the guarantee of the rule of law and comprehensively create a rural social legal ecosystem. The Report to the 20th CPC National Congress pointed out that comprehensively advancing the rule of law is a profound revolution in national governance, concerning the Party's governance and the rejuvenation of the country, the happiness and well-being of the people, and the long-term stability of the Party and the state. We must better leverage the role of the rule of law in consolidating foundations, stabilizing expectations, and benefiting the long term, and comprehensively build a modern socialist country on the track of the rule of law. To continuously promote the path of rural modernization, we must use Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law to promote rural legal construction, always keeping the task of legal popularization in mind so that the people know, understand, and use the law to protect their rights. We must constantly reflect on whether judicial work can keep pace with the requirements of the times and whether it stands on the side of the people to serve them. We must remain people-centered, increase legal publicity, and persist over the long term so that the rule of law is implemented effectively rather than remaining a mere slogan.
IV. Promoting the Rule of Virtue: Building a new ethos of rural civilization and consolidating the soul to forge ahead.
The rule of virtue is another important means of rural governance alongside the rule of law and is an intrinsic requirement for modernizing rural governance. The Green Rural Revival Program has not only changed the "hard environment" of Zhejiang’s countryside but also responded to General Secretary Xi Jinping’s call for the "coordinated development of spiritual and material civilization." It has established a batch of Family Tradition and Motto Halls, strengthened the supply of public cultural services, and met the diverse spiritual needs of villagers. By actively utilizing internet technology to promote examples of good people and deeds, it guides the masses toward positivity. Through Party members’ publicity in the countryside and continuous spiritual civilization activities, old-fashioned concepts have been effectively improved, and simple, honest family and village traditions have been widely promoted. By the end of 2022, Zhejiang had built 20,511 rural cultural auditoriums, achieving full coverage of administrative villages with over 500 residents, and 25,335 rural libraries, achieving full coverage of all administrative villages. The program has not only created thousands of beautiful villages but also cultivated a group of high-quality "new farmers," creating a favorable moral environment for effective rural governance in the New Era.
To promote the modernization of rural governance in the New Era, we must promote the rule of virtue and ensure that advanced socialist culture and excellent traditional culture "take root" at the rural grassroots. General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized the need to combine the rule of law with the rule of virtue so that they complement and enhance each other. We must vigorously promote the national spirit centered on patriotism and the spirit of the times centered on reform and innovation. Especially in current society, where the pace of life is accelerating and diverse cultures coexist, mainstream values are being challenged. This necessitates strengthening the construction of the rule of virtue to promote social righteousness. "Law secures the world, virtue moistens people’s hearts." Rural rule of virtue must combine core socialist values with traditional Chinese virtues, guiding the masses to be upright, kind, and innovative, making the rule of virtue a true ideological and moral support for rural governance modernization.
V. Digital Empowerment: Comprehensively applying digital technology to deeply advance digital village construction.
Digital empowerment is an opportunity brought by the digital age. In implementing the Green Rural Revival Program, Zhejiang Province has paid special attention to reform and innovation, using new technologies, tools, and methods to improve rural social governance. Zhejiang Mobile, responding to the call of grassroots Party organizations, built a digital platform for grassroots governance for Yanshang Village in Yongjia County, Wenzhou. Although Yanshang Village has a superior geographical location and broad prospects for tourism, it had long been neglected due to its small and scattered industrial scale. However, in recent years, with the help of digital technology dissemination, the village's reputation has spread far and wide, and it has transformed into a "celebrity village" (网红村), showing a trend of leapfrog development.
To promote the modernization of rural governance in the New Era, we must comprehensively apply digital technology to achieve "cloud processing" of grassroots affairs. On the new journey, empowering rural modernization with digital technology necessitates an "Internet +" approach: "Internet + grassroots Party building" incorporates various permissions for Party member management into internet platforms, allowing for online cadre assessments and training; "Internet + Party-mass services" allows the masses to communicate directly via network platforms to raise their demands, ensuring efficient interaction free from time and location constraints; "Internet + grassroots management" allows Party cadres more time to visit the grassroots and do practical things for the people, saving costs and increasing satisfaction; and "Internet + integration of the three governances (三治融合)." Autonomy is the foundation of rural governance, the rule of law is the guarantee, and the rule of virtue is the root. The governance effect of distinct, non-overlapping autonomy, rule of law, and rule of virtue is limited. Only by using digital technology to empower rural autonomy to stimulate vitality, empower the rule of law to strengthen guarantees, and empower the rule of virtue to promote righteousness—under the guidance of Party building and with the support of digital platforms—can we truly maximize their combined effectiveness. This will ensure that farmers' pockets are full, rural industries are prosperous, and a new system of rural governance guided by Party building in the New Era is perfected.
In conclusion, we must take the experience of the Green Rural Revival Program as a guide, Party building as the leader, autonomy as the foundation, the rule of law as the guarantee, the rule of virtue as the goal, and digital technology as the means. By doing so, we can construct a path of rural governance with Chinese characteristics, maximize the conversion of Party building advantages into grassroots governance effectiveness, improve grassroots governance capabilities, and accelerate the construction of a new system for grassroots society, opening a new chapter in the modernization of rural governance and truly achieving rural revitalization.