A group of farmers from Yonglian village in the coastal city of Zhangjiagang, which specializes in fish breeding, bought an old second-hand steel machine from a local factory and started their steel business 30 years ago.

Decades later their business, called Jiangsu Yonggang Group Co, is one of the most renowned steel production bases in China, and achieved sales revenues of 35.5 billion yuan ($ 5.9 billion) in 2013.

The machine that the villagers originally bought is on display in the Yonglian Exhibition Hall and is a symbol for the rapid development of the town.

Yonglian village, which is in Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu province, is just one example of how the city has transformed during the past three decades.

According to the local government, urbanization is an important strategic move for Zhangjiagang as it helps boost the economy and improve the quality of life for residents.

It was hoped that urbanization would also bring the city's infrastructure construction, public service, employment rate and social welfare system to a new level.

Yonglian village has an employment rate of 98 percent and most people work in the local steel factory.

The village occupies 10.5 square kilometers and has its own primary school, hospital, library, factory, funfair, farming park, commercial street, food street and theatre.

The village was known as the smallest and most underdeveloped village in the city 30 years ago, but it is now ranked among the top three wealthiest villages in China, an official said.

The local villagers, especially children and elderly, enjoy a generous welfare package.

A Mutual Aid Street on the banks of the village's river offers residents various facilities and services including a parent-child reading room, which is free for the public.

The reading room hosts a variety of events, including parenting discussion sessions for parents to communicate with each other and improve their parenting skills.

Near the reading room is a local library with computers and more than 40,000 books.

The librarians said they host free computer lessons for local elderly people and also deliver computers as gifts to those who don't have the money to buy one.

A librarian said the money was from a mutual fund, a large part of which was a donation from the Jiangsu Yonggang Group.

There is also a community restaurant on the street, which is especially for the area's elderly and disabled. The restaurant provides a free food delivery service for senior residents and a four-dish set lunch, which costs just 4 yuan.

In the afternoon one of the most popular sites in the village is the Yonglian Theater, which hosts free traditional opera performances for local residents every day.

The two-story theatre occupies a land area of 800 square meters and nearly 800 shows have been staged for about 80,000 people since it opened in 2010.

The theater has sufficient room for an audience of 260 people, a staff member said.

Each afternoon performance lasts for two to three hours and the singers are invited from cities like Shanghai, Suzhou, and Wuxi.

Performances vary and have included Pingtan, a traditional narrative musical art form popular in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, and Huangmei opera, a type of folksong and dance performance with a history of more than 200 years.

Elderly people in the village can chose to live in apartments that were built especially for senior residents in recent years.

Men older than 60 and women over the age of 50 are eligible to move into the apartments free of charge if they wish.

A health consulting office, calligraphy and painting room and a chess and cards room were also built to meet the demands of the elderly.

Suzhou Jiangnan Farming Cultural Park is a favorite destination for local children.

The park boasts flowers, plants and fruit trees as well as more than 50 kinds of birds, and daily shows are held including ox ploughing and dog racing.

Villagers and tourists can take part in activities such as brewing wine, weaving and forging iron in the park.

"I am very impressed with Yonglian village, it is not a village but a city," said Syed Manzar Hussain Naqvi from Pakistan, who is the executive editor of Financial Daily International, during his visit to the village.

According to the local government, Zhangjiagang has become known for its urbanization efforts.

The medical care system, social welfare system and public services were improved during the urbanization process.

According to a city government report, one of their main goals is to achieve a 70 percent urbanization rate by the end of 2015.

At the same time they plan to maintain the annual growth rate of social welfare for villagers at 10 percent or more.

zhuanti@chinadaily.com.cn