Big red apples hanging on trees is a common sight in Nangou Village in the harvest season. It's one of the villages that's lifted itself out of poverty by cultivating apple orchards in northwest China's Yan'an City, Shaanxi Province. 

The city boasts a yearly apple output of 4 million tonnes — one ninth of the total apple output in the world's largest developing country. 

With a population of around 1,000 people, Nangou Village got rid of poverty in 2018. 

President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, headed directly to Nangou after getting off the train on Wednesday afternoon during his first inspection tour after the conclusion of the 20th CPC National Congress.

In an orchard there, Xi chatted with villagers, asking in detail about how they grew apple trees and picked fruits, what species of apple they planted, what prices their apples were sold at, and about their income. He also inquired about how the village had expanded apple orchards and developed other industries.

"General Secretary Xi asked us about our incomes and I said that we're doing really well right now," said villager Zhao Yongdong, adding that the orchard's income is 50,000 (over $6,800) to 60,000 yuan in a bad harvest year, and that he can earn an extra 10,000 yuan a year if he works at the rural cooperative.

Noting the low humidity and precipitation suitable for apple tree growth on the Loess Plateau in northern Shaanxi, Xi also praised the application of modern technologies including drip irrigation, dwarf planting and fruit selection production lines in improving fruit quality and production efficiency.

Acknowledging the absolute poverty problem as solved, Xi stressed that more efforts need to be continued to improve people's lives.

"The Communist Party of China is a Party of the people and for the people. The CPC is committed to serving the people and doing a good job for their benefit," Xi said.

People oriented and hard work is the Yan'an Spirit

What Xi said echoed with the CPC's fundamental purpose of serving people wholeheartedly, which was first written into the Party Constitution during the seventh CPC National Congress held in Yan'an in 1945.

Hailing Yan'an as a holy site of the Chinese revolution and the cradle of New China, as veteran revolutionaries including Mao Zedong led China's revolution from inception to completion, and transformed the prospects of the country, Xi said the spirit of Yan'an also highlights the enterprising spirit of self-reliance and hard work.

Despite the tight blockade by the Kuomintang forces in 1941, the CPC soldiers and local villagers in Nanniwan, Yan'an worked at full steam in the fields wielding hoes and shovels to turn the desolate mountains and barren land of northern Shaanxi into farmland to realize self-sufficiency.

During his inspection of the Hongqi Canal, or the Red Flag Canal, in Linzhou City of central China's Henan Province on Friday, Xi said the enterprising spirit of self-reliance and hard work in building the canal was inherited and passed on from the Yan'an spirit.

Residents in Linxian County, now known as Linzhou City, used to suffer from the lack of water. In 1960s, local people spent nearly 10 years to build the canal crossing the steep Taihang Mountains, between 800 and 1,736 meters above sea level, to divert water. 

The Red Flag Canal itself is a monument to the heroic spirit of the people of Linxian County who did not resign themselves to fate or give in to defeat, Xi said.

He called on all members of the Party to promote the fighting spirit, strengthen the fighting capacity, resolutely overcome various difficulties and challenges ahead, and harness the indomitable fighting spirit to open up new horizons for the cause of the Party and the country.

The report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) stressed the country will continue to put agricultural and rural development first, consolidate and expand achievements in poverty alleviation, and reinforce the foundations for food security on all fronts.

Xi called on Party members to promote rural revitalization in a wholesome manner, implement the policies of enriching villagers, and speed up the modernization of agriculture and rural areas in a bid to help villagers lead a more prosperous life.