Clean environment vital for rural areas

Rural household waste should be reduced at the source and enterprises that damage the environment must not expand to the countryside, China's top legislature said in a report concerning the promotion of rural vitalization.

The report was reviewed by lawmakers at a session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the country's top legislative body, which closed on Sunday.

To figure out whether the Rural Vitalization Promotion Law was effective, the NPC Standing Committee conducted an inspection between June and September, finding that the fight against pollution in villages and rural waste sorting needed to be further promoted.

"Rural household waste classification and resource utilization are still at the initial stage. Residents in Liaoning province, for example, were discovered not to have a strong initiative to participate in garbage sorting," Wang Chen, vice-chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, said when explaining the report to lawmakers.

He pointed out that efforts in handling rural domestic sewage, rural sanitary toilet transformation and odorous water should be continuously improved, citing a figure that the domestic sewage processing rate in the countryside is less than 30 percent.

"In the country's northeastern regions, for instance, sanitary toilets have not been fully covered due to the local cold climate, deep permafrost layers and long-term winter seasons," he said.

Naming "green development "and "green lifestyle" as major tasks in promoting rural vitalization, he called for more strength to optimize the rural household environment by utilizing different sewage processing technologies in line with local climates and the practical demands of villagers.

"It's a must to draw and hold a red line for rural ecological conservation to prevent pollution from being transferred to villages," he said.

"Moreover, a negative list of industries should be set up to prevent enterprises that could potentially damage the rural environment from expanding to the countryside," he added.

Additionally, since the law on the promotion of rural vitalization took effect last year, attracting talent to serve development in villages has also been a challenge, according to the report.

An inspection team of the NPC Standing Committee carried out a random check in a village in Heilongjiang province and found that permanent residents accounted for just 33 percent of the local registered population, it said.

Meanwhile, attracting city talent to bring business operations, healthcare, technology, culture and social services to villages has also been difficult, it added.

Therefore, salaries and subsidies for rural officials should be guaranteed and preferential policies for those who return to their villages — including policies for housing, public services, social insurance and children's school enrollment — also need to be improved, Wang said.

He called for the building of special systems to cultivate talent for some tailored fields, such as rural education, healthcare, business operations and legal services, to ensure they can stay and serve the villages.

After stepping out of poverty, China has started its journey to promote rural vitalization. Under the law, which aims to promote economic growth and optimize the agricultural industry, governments at all levels are ordered to drive high-quality agricultural development and ensure the well-being of rural residents.