Green Rural Revival Program: A Chinese success story

The Green Rural Revival Program, put forward by President Xi Jinping two decades ago in East China's Zhejiang province, offers a solid path to promoting integrated urban-rural development, advancing rural revitalization and striving for common prosperity, officials and experts said.

They made the remarks on Thursday at the seminar which studied the 20 years' experience gained from Zhejiang's Green Rural Revival Program. The seminar was held in Beijing and presided over by Shi Yulong, director of the Research Center for Xi Jinping Economic Thought.

In June 2003, Xi, who served as the secretary of the Communist Party of China Zhejiang Provincial Committee, initiated the Green Rural Revival Program. He planned to renovate about 10,000 incorporated villages in the next five years and transform about 1,000 central villages among them into examples of moderate prosperity in all respects.

Luo Rong, deputy director of the research center, said that the Green Rural Revival Program fully embodies China's people-centered development philosophy. This success story offers valuable experience at home and abroad.

Pan Yigang, vice president at the Zhejiang Development and Planning Institute, said that the strategy forged an effective path to building modern villages, achieving common prosperity in both urban and rural areas, strengthening modern rural governance, and offering Chinese solution for sustainable rural development.

Liu Qiang, Deputy Director of the Center for Urban and Small Towns Reform and Development, said that the strategy prioritized eco-restoration and green development to make local rural residents feel more fulfilled, happy and secure. It also laid a solid foundation for building a beautiful China and fully advancing rural revitalization.