JINAN/XINING — Booming agriculture, a fresh rural environment and increased incomes — rural Chinese residents have been witnessing changes in their hometowns, something that many had not even envisioned possible in the past.

China will make efforts to consolidate the achievements it has won in the fight against poverty and fully promote its strategy of rural vitalization, according to a communique from the fifth plenary session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, released on Oct 29.

Across the country, government officials, company staff and ordinary villagers are contributing their power to shaping a more prosperous life for rural residents.

GOOD VEGETABLES, GOOD SALES

Residents of Shouguang village had never imagined that 12 greenhouses could change their lives.

The village, located in Dongying city of East China's Shandong province, is home to 370 residents across 120 households, including 50 poor households. Under the country's poverty-alleviation policy, the village rented land from seven impoverished families in 2013 and used it to build 12 vegetable greenhouses.

"At the beginning, we thought poor households would have annual rental incomes of more than 15,000 yuan (about $2,230) per hectare, and the greenhouse vegetable industry could be developed in our village. But the difficulties were more significant than we thought," said village Party secretary Zhu Rongde.

They were at first not able to establish a stable market.

But Zhao Jun soon solved the dilemma. Zhao, an employee of the Dongying branch of the State Grid Shandong Electric Power Company, was sent to Shouguang village in 2019 to support its development.

He soon realized that his company's canteen would need good, affordable vegetables.

First, Zhao handed Zhu a vegetable purchase agreement worth 200,000 yuan. He then participated in a promotional meeting for agricultural products organized under a pairing-up policy, and achieved sales intention agreements worth 300,000 yuan.

He also helped the village establish long-term purchasing cooperative relationships with supermarkets and restaurants in Dongying city.

"These sales channels not only saved the lives of our greenhouses but also brought gold to our fields," Zhu said.

Now over a dozen vegetable varieties are grown in the greenhouses, and losses became profits in 2019. More than 35,000 kg of vegetables have been sold this year alone, bringing in an income of 150,000 yuan.

RURAL LIFE EMBRACES MORE INDUSTRIES

Rows of well-decorated Tibetan houses are now ready to welcome tourists, and their owners are wondering what dishes they can prepare for their guests.

These houses in Dekyi village, located in Jainca county of Northwest China's Qinghai province, have become homestays and are bringing prosperity to rural life.

Local villagers used to live deep in the nearby mountains, which have a harsh natural environment and are inconvenient for travel.

"We were afraid of becoming sick as we would have to walk or cycle a long distance to the hospital in the county seat. My family farmed the soil and raised livestock, but only got 3,000 yuan each year," said Drolmathar, a 48-year-old Tibetan.

But now his family has a yearly income of more than 40,000 yuan.

In 2017, 946 Tibetan herdsmen and farmers from 30 remote villages in Jainca bid farewell to their impoverished lives, relocating to the new Dekyi village, where the Jainca government had invested over 67 million yuan to construct 251 houses.

The local government held training classes for those who chose to run homestay businesses, teaching them how to cook more types of food and how to provide services.

The village, sitting next to the Yellow River, has now been transformed into a popular tourist destination and is particularly popular among people living near Jainca and those in the provincial capital of Xining.

Tourists can fish, ride speedboats and laze on the artificial beach by the riverside.

In October 2018, it was listed as a "village of beauty and leisure" by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

According to the Jainca government, four villages have benefited from rural tourism projects launched in the county, with over 300 people finding jobs and shaking off poverty. These 300 people have seen their incomes increase by an average of 2,500 yuan.

China has achieved remarkable results over its 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020), with 55.75 million rural residents shaking off poverty, said Zhang Junbiao, a professor at Huazhong Agricultural University.

"Rural vitalization is key to realizing the modernization of agriculture and rural affairs," Zhang said, adding that through rural reform and the improvement of agriculture quality and competitiveness, both urban and rural residents will share the economic and social benefits of reform and development.