CMG releases top 10 news stories on China's rural revitalization in 2023

Work on agriculture and rural areas has been high on China's agenda for 20 consecutive years since 2004. In 2017, during the 19th CPC National Congress, Chinese President Xi Jinping first put forward the National Rural Revitalization Strategy, which aims to help revamp the countryside, achieving the basic modernization of agriculture and rural areas. Since then, China has been moving fast to steadily promote the revitalization of businesses, talent, culture, ecosystems, and organizations in the countryside.

China Media Group (CMG) on Saturday released its 10 most significant pieces of news on rural revitalization in 2023.

On May 3, 2023, Chinese President Xi Jinping extended greetings to young Chinese ahead of the country's Youth Day. He was responding to a letter from students participating in the "Science and Technology Backyard" program at the China Agricultural University.

President Xi said students should closely combine theoretical learning with rural practice, cultivate a love for agriculture and develop the skills to revitalize agriculture. He also called on youth to help strengthen and accelerate the modernization of agriculture in rural areas to comprehensively build a modern socialist country.

More to the story: Young Minds: President Xi's letter motivates students to build a modern countryside

The annual central rural work conference was held in Beijing on December 19-20, mapping out priorities of rural work in 2024. At the conference, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made important instructions on work related to agriculture, rural areas and farmers.

More to the story: China holds central rural work conference

Launched in 2003 by Zhejiang Province, the Green Rural Revival Program celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. It aims to renovate about 10,000 incorporated villages and transform about 1,000 central villages into examples of moderate prosperity to improve the rural ecological environment and improve villagers' quality of life. 

Over the past 20 years, the program has changed thousands of villages in the province. At present, 90 percent of the villages in the province meet the national standard for a beautiful village in the new era. The rural living environment in the province continues to lead nationwide, with the forest coverage rate exceeding 61 percent and the per capita income of rural residents ranking first in the country for 20 consecutive years.

More to the story: Green Is Gold: China began Green Rural Revival program 20 years ago

China unveiled its "No. 1 central document" for 2023 on February 13, outlining nine tasks for comprehensively promoting rural revitalization.

The document notes that as China faces the heavy task of building a modern socialist country in all respects amid a rapidly changing world, it is essential to stress the bedrock of "agriculture, rural areas and farmers," promote rural revitalization, accelerate agricultural and rural modernization, and build China into an agricultural powerhouse.

More to the story: China's No. 1 central document for 2023 highlights rural vitalization

China's grain output rose 1.3 percent year on year to a record high of 695.41 million tonnes in 2023 despite the country being hit by a series of bad weather events, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on December 11. This is the ninth consecutive year that China has registered a grain harvest of over 650 million tonnes.

More to the story: China's 2023 grain output hits record high

According to the 2022 National Land Survey, China's arable land area reached over 1.9 billion mu (about 0.13 billion hectares), achieving the second consecutive increase and providing an important guarantee for the country's food security.

China has rolled out its first plan to develop modern protected agriculture in June, designating four primary tasks for the sector in the 2023-2030 period.

The plan indicates that modern protected cropping should be energy-efficient and suitable for machinery operations, and animal husbandry should be based on efficient and intensive development. According to the plan, the fishery industry will focus mainly on ecological aquaculture, and the modern logistics facilities will emphasize the storage, preservation, and drying of agricultural produce.

Rural water supply projects have always been one of the key focuses of water infrastructure construction. The Chinese government prioritizes the integrated development of urban and rural water supply, scales up centralized water supplies, facilitates standardized construction and renovation of small-scale water supply projects, and promotes unified and specialized management of rural water supply projects at the county level.

According to the Ministry of Water Resources on December 12, a total of 17,881 rural water supply projects were completed from January to November, improving water supply standards for 82.1 million rural residents. More than 4 billion yuan was invested in maintaining 98,800 existing projects in rural areas.

A new law on the ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River basin came into effect on April 1. The law, adopted in October 2022, features enriched content regarding ecological conservation and restoration, as well as environmental pollution control, in areas along the Yellow River, known as the "Mother River" in China.

More to the story: Yellow River protection law takes effect

The "CunBA," the village basketball games and the "Cun Chao," the village football tournaments and other sports games held in villages in China have captured the attention of media, social platforms and even overseas stars, showing the booming sports and cultural development amid the country's rural revitalization drive.

More to the story: Chinese village basketball tournament viewed 1 billion times online