China honors models of rural development

XI'AN -- China has honored 3,274 villages and towns as models of rural development.

The villages and towns have witnessed quality rural development, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

Among the national models are 136 villages with gross domestic product above 100 million yuan ($15.3 million) and 91 towns with GDP of more than 1 billion yuan each, said Shao Jiancheng, deputy director of the ministry's rural industry development department.

Addressing an event announcing these honors held in Weinan city, Northwest China's Shaanxi province, Shao said there are 74,000 enterprises, cooperatives and family farms in the villages and towns, creating jobs for more than 400,000 poor households.

The processing and storage capacity of agricultural products in these villages and towns exceeded 17.43 million tonnes, and 60 percent of the villages and 76 percent of the towns have e-commerce platforms for promoting their products.

Shao said the national model villages and towns have obtained 14,600 registered trademarks and more than 4,900 green food and organic food certifications.