Pinggu district, a major agricultural hub in Beijing, has announced 16 favorable agricultural policies to accelerate the development of a beautiful countryside, according to a meeting held in the district on March 10.

Among the 16 incentives, five are related to upgrading the ecological quality of rural Pinggu, which include shifting from burning coal to using gas and electricity, abandoning the use of traditional kang (a heatable adobe sleeping platform) heating and relocating farmers who live in disaster-prone areas.

Fu Xiangsheng, vice governor of the district, revealed that the district will improve its infrastructure, public services and people’s livelihood with an investment of 2.2 billion yuan in 2018.

In 2018, the district will allocate 110 million yuan for rewarding farmers who transfer from burning coal to using electricity and offer 198 million yuan as price subsidies for farmers who swap coal for gas. It will also upgrade the traditional kang heating system with an investment of 16 million yuan.

In addition, Pinggu district launched a three-year campaign from 2018 to 2020 designed to improve the air and water quality, increase farmers’ income and raise industrial efficiency.

An area of 15,700 hectares will be afforested in Pinggu this year.

Fu said that sewage treatment facilities will be available in the water head sites, major and densely-populated villages and folk culture villages in Pinggu by the end of 2019, and in all villages by 2020.

All of the measures are targeted towards the integrated construction of a beautiful Pinggu with green mountains, clear water, fruit-bearing forest and scale-economy farming land, Fu said.