21st Century Business Herald:

This year's No. 1 central document mandates that all localities draw on and apply the experience from the Green Rural Revival Program in Zhejiang province to advance rural revitalization. Could you please introduce the changes the program has brought to Zhejiang? Thank you.

Xu Wenguang:

Okay, I'll take this question. Over the past two decades, the Green Rural Revival Program has made thousands of villages beautiful and improved the well-being of thousands of people in Zhejiang. The program won the UN Champions of the Earth award and has been praised by Zhejiang farmers as the most welcomed and most beneficial practice to farmers adopted by the Party and the government since implementing the household contract responsibility system. My introduction will focus on three aspects:

First, the Green Rural Revival Program has brought tremendous changes to rural areas. Many people say that the villages in Zhejiang are the most impressive, with beautiful landscapes everywhere they go. Through the full implementation of the Green Rural Revival Program, we have achieved public transportation coverage and broadband connection in all villages. Public service centers have been built in every village. The centralized treatment of sewage and refuse has resulted in cleaner courtyards and a more beautiful rural environment. Meanwhile, we have adopted a category-based, region-specific approach to focus on specialty products and the diverse beauty of individual villages. Urban residents visit the beautiful countryside to experience a poetic life far from the hustle and bustle of the city. Their consumption during countryside trips attracts more young people to return to their hometowns to start businesses, creating a positive cycle.

Second, the Green Rural Revival Program has developed a model of integrated urban-rural development. From the start, it was not merely about improving the rural living environment. It was not a simple task of painting walls or decorating villages, but a new approach to treating cities and the countryside as indivisible, systematically encouraging interaction between the two to accomplish integrated development. During the sewage revolution, garbage revolution, toilet revolution, and the construction of a beautiful and harmonious countryside, we have consistently emphasized the leading role of cities and the supporting role of the countryside in each other's development. By doing so, we have created a favorable environment for integrated urban-rural development in Zhejiang.

Third, the Green Rural Revival Program has advanced rural governance based on collaboration, participation, and shared benefits. We have taken into full account the government's capabilities and the people's desires. The government should proactively, earnestly, and with concrete steps perform its duties where necessary while avoiding overreach that would dominate or interfere in matters where the people should have greater say. By doing so, we have established an effective rural governance model, ensuring that the people are at the heart of rural revitalization and benefit directly from it. In recent years, eco-agriculture, rural e-commerce, rural tourism, and other new forms of business have thrived in Zhejiang. The province has nurtured "new farmers" for modern agriculture and built "common prosperity workshops" to ensure that all rural residents have jobs and income. As a result, the per capita disposable income of rural residents has exceeded 40,000 yuan. All these efforts facilitate our goals of building a beautiful countryside, creating a beautiful economy, and pursuing a better life.

Next, we will continue to deepen the Green Rural Revival Program in the new era. By coordinating efforts to strengthen , rural and urban prosperity, and integrated development, Zhejiang will contribute more to advancing rural revitalization across the board.

That's all from me. Thank you.