The photo shows part of a demonstrative Future Village in Longyou county, Quzhou city of Zhejiang province. (PHOTO: XINHUA)

By ZHONG Jianli

Zhejiang province, designated to be a demonstration zone for common prosperity in China, is taking the lead in exploring the establishment of a better society, in which urban and rural development is balanced and a more high-quality development model is realized.

As early as in 2003, Zhejiang launched a "village demonstration and renovation" project, aimed to renovate 10,000 villages across the province and transform a thousand of them into demonstrative zones where a well-off society is established.

Over the past two decades, the province has continued to implement the project. New forms of development such as ecological agriculture, rural tourism, and e-commerce have emerged, bringing tangible benefits to local people.

According to statistics, the per capita disposable income of rural residents in the province has increased from 5,431 RMB in 2003 to 37,565 RMB in 2022.

Miaoshan village in Huzhou city is a typical example of developing from a poor village to one that is more affluent. Guided by the concept of "clear waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets," the village has closed mines in the mountains and transformed its industries from farming and livestock to ecological cultural tourism.

In 2022, the village welcomed 365,000 tourists, generating tourism revenue of 110 million RMB. It has also been included in the list of the first batch of "future villages" in Zhejiang.

Regarding e-commerce in rural areas, the province currently has more than 2,600 specialized e-commerce villages whose online retail sales exceed 10 million RMB. The province's rural online retail sales account for a large proportion of total online retail sales in China.

Of particular note is that the province has implemented digital transformation in rural areas. Rural residents' lives have become more intelligent and modernized, and locals have easier access to education, medication, and cultural services through digitalized means.

For the next five years, 944 construction projects have been planned, with a total investment of 1.3 trillion RMB, to accelerate the integration and upgrading of urban and rural industrial development, infrastructure interconnection, and sharing of public services, said Jiang Weifeng, deputy director-general of Zhejiang Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.