China makes great strides in rural vitalization over past 5 years

Aerial photo taken on May 24, 2022 shows farmers harvesting wheat in the fields in Xiapo Village of Linyi, east China's Shandong Province. (Photo by Wu Jiquan/Xinhua)

BEIJING, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- China has made solid progress in pushing forward rural vitalization as planned over the last five years, the country's top economic planner said on Wednesday.

In 2018, China released a five-year plan for its rural vitalization strategy, mapping out a number of major projects, programs and actions.

All 59 of the plan's key tasks, including consolidating agricultural production capacity and improving the safety of drinking water in rural areas, have been carried out steadily and have yielded good results, Wu Xiao, an official from the National Development and Reform Commission, told a press conference.

In 2021, agricultural technology progress contributed 61 percent of the sector's development, up 3.5 percentage points from 2017, Wu said. And the crop cultivation and harvest mechanization rate has exceeded 72 percent, up 6 percentage points from 2017.

As of the green development of agriculture, the application of chemical fertilizers and pesticides has experienced negative growth over the years, while the utilization rate of livestock manure has significantly increased.

The construction of rural infrastructure, such as water, electricity, road and telecommunication facilities, has been boosted, Wu said, adding that tap water is now accessible in 84 percent of rural households.

The per capita disposable income of rural residents increased by 28.9 percent in real terms from 2017 to 2021, Wu said.