MKsport view of a village in the city of Jiujiang, East China's Jiangxi Province. Photo: VCG" src="https://www.globaltimes.cn/Portals/0/attachment/2025/2025-03-03/bc2a47c5-b4f3-4002-b3ee-e086659d7bc0.jpeg" />

The view of a village in Jiujiang, East China's Jiangxi Province Photo: VCG

Editor's Note:
In late February, China unveiled its "No. 1 central document" for 2025, outlining priorities to deepen rural reforms further and solid steps to advance all-around rural revitalization. Back in 2017, China, under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Xi Jinping at its core, embarked on a journey of rural revitalization, to further narrow the rural-urban gap and bring common prosperity to rural residents. What are the achievements of China's rural revitalization efforts in the past years? What is the significance of rural revitalization to Chinese modernization? The Global Times solicits opinions from four foreign experts who have visited China's rural areas and are dedicated to China's rural development.


Scott Rozelle, American development economist and recipient of the Chinese Government Friendship Award

In the longer term, the biggest thing China should focus on in order to revitalize rural China is education. It is everything. In the past 40 years, especially the last 15 years, China has put a lot of money into rural education, encouraging rural kids to study in towns and cities. This has resulted in positive changes and I think this is great.

There are some countries in the world that went from poverty to middle-income status; they developed very fast but then stopped. What happened was wages went up. Economies began to mechanize and move into high tech, but they couldn't, because the quality of their workforce was not up to standard.

Therefore, if a country wants high income for its people, human capital is everything. Human capital will help China go forward. As long as rural revitalization focuses on providing good, high-quality and sufficient food, and then providing a well-trained and healthy workforce for the rural labor force, Chinese modernization will move forward faster toward success.


David Ferguson, chief English editor at Foreign Languages Press and recipient of the Chinese Government Friendship Award

I wrote a book a couple of years ago about poverty alleviation and rural revitalization, focusing specifically on China's Gansu Province. The book detailed how a province that had once been one of the poorest was on the path to catching up. This didn't just happen in one place in the country. In China, around 100 million people were raised from absolute poverty in the period of about 10 years. There are only about a dozen countries in the world with a population of more than 100 million people. That is a huge achievement. I don't think any other country could have achieved that. I think they don't have the processes, and they don't have structures in place. But China does.
In fact, targeted poverty alleviation is a perfect example of how China's system, rooted in whole-process people's democracy, functions on a structural and institutional level to deliver tangible results. It is a system that is geared toward respecting the interests and fulfilling the needs of everyone.

I have had a lot of experience in looking at how China's system is reflected in China's actions. One of the reasons why targeted poverty alleviation was so successful was because individual Party secretaries at the grassroots level had a specific responsibility to know every household in their area that was in poverty, to understand why they were in poverty and to develop strategies to help them rise out of it. 

The success of targeted poverty alleviation demonstrates the power of China's political system and the people-centered approach. Elements of China's approach, such as the focus on long-term, people-centered development, and the specific tactics used in poverty alleviation, can be adopted by countries looking to make tangible progress in improving the lives of their citizens.


David Blair, senior economist and vice president of the Center for China and Globalization

Over the years, I have had the opportunity to visit farms in several provinces across China. These visits allowed me to witness firsthand the diverse lifestyles of farmers in China. Before I personally experienced the Chinese countryside, I often heard the narrative that only the eastern provinces of China were developed, while the rest of the country lagged behind in poverty. At the time, I had little insight into the reality of rural China. However, after spending time in these areas, I was struck by the quality of life that many farmers enjoy. For instance, during my visits to farmers' homes in Yunnan, I observed that their lives were far better than I had imagined. Many of them not only earn a living through farming but also supplement their income by running small businesses, which has significantly improved their economic stability.

One of the most remarkable changes I've noticed is the transformation brought about by advancements in transportation and communication infrastructure. Over the past 15 to 20 years, China has invested in building roads, expanding 4G and 5G networks, and improving other critical infrastructure across the country. 

These investments have bridged the gap between rural and urban areas, allowing rural residents to enjoy many of the conveniences and opportunities typically associated with city life. For example, reliable internet access has enabled farmers to access online markets, learn new agricultural techniques, and even start e-commerce businesses. Good roads have made it easier for them to transport goods and connect with larger markets, boosting their incomes and overall quality of life.

I believe that China has made significant strides in rural revitalization, and much of this success can be attributed to strategic investments in infrastructure and housing. These efforts were absolutely necessary to address the historical challenges faced by rural areas. I've seen photographs of China in the 1990s, and the contrast with today is striking. Back then, infrastructure in most rural regions was underdeveloped, with poor roads, limited access to electricity and almost no modern communication systems. Today, however, rural China boasts some of the best infrastructure in the world, thanks to decades of focused investment. This transformation has unlocked countless opportunities for rural residents, from improved education and healthcare to better job prospects and entrepreneurial ventures.

In conclusion, China's rural revitalization strategy has not only improved the quality of life for millions of people but it has also created a model for sustainable development. By continuing to invest in infrastructure and supporting rural entrepreneurship, China is ensuring that its rural areas remain vibrant and prosperous, contributing to the nation's overall growth and stability.


Roland Boer, Marxist scholar from Australia and distinguished overseas professor at Renmin University of China

Over the last 18 years, I have traveled to many rural areas across China. Late in 2024, I visited Yongmaowei village, on an island in the Yangtze River near Zhenjiang. Walking along the streets of the village, and visiting a home that looked out over a canal and fields, I felt that I was seeing "ecological civilization" in action.

Very different are the semi-arid regions of Mangya in Qinghai. Western China is clearly still developing - and rapidly. I traveled through part of the Gobi Desert, visited salt and oil mining enterprises, and spoke with Tibetan and Mongolian minorities in the area.

What does rural revitalization mean in this sparsely populated area? It means working hard at "greening" Mangya with its very saline soils. It means afforestation to limit the spread of the Gobi Desert. It means relying on organic vegetables from Dunhuang in Gansu Province. And it means ensuring that the mining, road-building, railway construction and many other developments adhere to the principles of "green growth."