(by Professor Zheng Changzhong on the Way from Potang Village to Guyuelongshan Jianhu Winery on May 24, 2025)
Hello, journalists!
Did you feel the unique charm and vitality of the village we just visited? This kind of village belongs to the “Beautiful and Harmonious Rural Characteristic Boutique Villages” category in Zhejiang. By 2024, there have been 2,170 such demonstration villages across the province. They are not only the fruits of the “Ten Million Project” after 20 years of deep cultivation but also the “benchmark models” of Zhejiang’s countryside.
In Zhejiang, the larger group than boutique villages is the “New Era Beautiful Countryside” — currently, more than 90% of administrative villages (about 25,000) in the province have reached this basic standard. They may be slightly less prominent in industrial characteristics or landscape development than boutique villages, but they have equally achieved the goals of a picturesque and clean environment, effective governance, and prosperous lives.
The clear classification of these tiers is precisely because the “Ten Million Project” has established a ladder-type cultivation system from “renovated villages – up-to-standard villages – demonstration villages – boutique villages,” allowing each village to find its position in differentiated development. The village we just visited is a vivid portrayal of the “pinnacle of the pyramid” in this system.
Looking back at the turn of the century, in 2000, China was accelerating industrialization, while rural areas faced the dilemma of “lagging development, messy environments, and insufficient vitality.” How could cities and industries support rural areas and agriculture? A rural transformation was thus born.
After Comrade Xi Jinping came to work in Zhejiang in 2002, he conducted in-depth research on rural development challenges and proposed the concept of “coordinating urban and rural development.” In June 2003, under the guidance of the “Eight-Eight Strategy” (the top-level design for Zhejiang’s development, focusing on leveraging “eight advantages” and advancing “eight initiatives”), Zhejiang officially launched the “Thousand Villages Demonstration and Ten Thousand Villages Renovation Project,” with the goal of “focusing on renovating 10,000 villages and building 1,000 demonstration central villages within five years.” Through the mechanism of “government sets standards, villages implement, and mass participation,” the first batch of demonstration villages became “windows of rural modernization.”
As the project advanced, Zhejiang first tackled infrastructure. Based on the “Village Connectivity Project” (connecting roads, water, electricity, and telephones), it promoted the “Hardening, Lighting, and Greening Projects,” ensuring cement and asphalt roads reached village entrances and full coverage of water and electricity supplies. At the same time, village-level convenient service centers were built, and through the “Run Once at Most” reform, villagers could handle affairs without leaving their villages. The “toilet revolution” personally promoted by General Secretary Xi Jinping transformed rural public restrooms from “smelly and dirty” to “windows of civilization,” rewriting rural hygiene habits.
After the basic improvement of rural infrastructure and environmental appearance, the “Ten Million Project” advanced to a higher dimension of “wealth + beauty + good governance.” Take the village we visited as an example: the village Party secretary, a returning entrepreneur, used market thinking to revitalize resources — transforming idle farmhouses into homestays and rice paddies into tourist attractions. During peak holiday seasons, the village’s daily comprehensive tourism revenue has repeatedly hit new highs, with participating households significantly increasing their daily income. With the advancement of rural revitalization, Potang Village’s attractiveness has continuously grown, with its permanent population nearly doubling from previous years, forming a vibrant pattern of “local residents returning and new villagers moving in.” In industrial upgrading, the village has shifted from “selling agricultural products” to “selling scenery and culture,” upgrading traditional rice planting to “colorful rice paddy art landscapes” and developing experience projects like “paddy coffee” and “farmhand workshops” to create a characteristic brand of artistic rural construction, attracting urban visitors to “stay in rural homes on weekends and experience a slow life,” becoming a “living sample of rural revitalization.”
Looking at the 20-year development of Zhejiang’s countryside, we can be convinced that: The “Ten Million Project” is not an “image project” but a “people’s heart project” — the government has not only built roads but also a “bridge of unity” connecting urban and rural areas; it has not only renovated toilets but also set a “new benchmark for rural civilization.”
When entrepreneurs shift from “financial report thinking” to “rural revitalization thinking,” and when villagers change from “waiting, relying, and demanding” to “working together,” rural areas transform from “empty shells” to “treasure bowls.”
Today’s Zhejiang countryside combines the poetry of “small bridges, flowing water, and households” with the modern atmosphere of “digital farms and smart homestays” — this is the “double-sided embroidery” of China’s countryside.
Twenty years later, this “Ten Million Project” that began in Zhejiang has risen to a national strategy for China’s rural revitalization. Its core logic — “people-centered, systematic promotion of urban-rural integration” — is taking root in 2.8 million villages across the country.
China’s “Three Rural Issues” (rural areas, agriculture, and farmers) are one of the key tasks. Due to the high proportion of rural population, the country attaches great importance to rural work. As old problems are solved, new challenges emerge. During urbanization, rural areas still face new challenges such as population mobility and industrial transformation. The next step is to promote the transformation and upgrading of rural work. If you have the opportunity to visit China again, you may see new development prospects in rural China.
That’s all for today’s sharing. Thank you!
*The views and opinions expressed in the articles are solely those of the individual authors and do not reflect the position of the Secretariat of the Belt and Road Journalist Network.