SCIO briefing on advancement of rural vitalization across the board and acceleration of agricultural and rural modernization
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E-mail China.org.cn, February 25, 2021
Phoenix TV:
The fifth plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee has noted that China will implement an action plan for rural construction. What are the priorities of the rural construction initiative and what are the construction ideas? Thank you.
Wu Hongyao:
I'm glad to answer this question. In the process of rapid industrialization and urbanization the shape of the countryside is rapidly evolving and the village pattern is being transformed and reshaped. What kind of villages to build and how to build them are questions of the times that we are facing and must answer. As you've mentioned, the fifth plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee has noted that China will take actions to develop rural areas, and stressed that the construction of the countryside should be placed in an important position in the construction of socialist modernization. This year's "No.1 Central Document" has also made comprehensive plans in this regard. Just now Mr. Tang stressed that works should be done this year to ensure a good start in agricultural and rural modernization. Specifically, to properly plan and carry out the rural development program is one of the important tasks for rural modernization. The rural development program should include both hardware and software. The hardware is to strengthen the infrastructure of rural areas, and the software is to strengthen public services in rural areas. In the meantime, efforts should also be made to promote the integrated development of urban and rural areas. I would like to talk about the specific deployment of the rural construction action from the following four aspects.
First, construction plans for rural areas should be formulated. Rural planning is the blueprint for rural construction. Without planning, houses will be built disorderly and there will be illegal appropriation of land, which will cost a lot of administrative efforts. Therefore, planning should always take priority before the construction begins, so as to properly determine the pattern of villages. Villages with advantages and needs can start construction earlier. In the meantime, we stress that construction plans should be formulated based on the current conditions. Practicability should be emphasized. Large-scale demolition and reconstruction should be avoided. The unique landscape of each village should remain unchanged, in a bid to keep its original sense of rural life and avoid homogenization in rural construction. The dismantling and merging of villages should be strictly regulated, and no farmers should be forced to move into apartment buildings against their will.
Second, rural living environments should be improved. Since the campaign to improve rural living environments was launched in 2018, the dirty, disorderly, and unsanitary parts of rural areas have been significantly improved, especially garbage treatment. The major field of weaknesses currently exist in rural toilets and sewage treatment, particularly the latter. Next, we will launch a five-year action plan to further improve rural living environments. This will include renovating rural toilets in an orderly and categorized manner based on local conditions, and emphasizing sewage treatment efforts, in a bid to effectively improve the livability of rural areas and people's sense of satisfaction.
Third, rural infrastructure should be developed. Infrastructure facilities in rural areas have been significantly improved in recent years. Basically, all administrative villages can be reached by roads and have access to water, electricity, and gas supplies. However, there are still obvious weaknesses in the internal infrastructure of villages. In the next step, we should continue to focus on the construction of public infrastructure in rural areas, and make every effort to reach more villages and households. The villages in this regard refer to non-administrative ones. For example, since rural areas have access to safe drinking water now, we need to improve the ability to guarantee that water supply. Given that electric power in rural areas is basically ensured, we also need to improve the capacity of its supply for production activities in rural areas. As basically all administrative villages have tarmac and cement roads, we need to accelerate the effort to build main roads inside non-administrative villages to help develop local industry, tourism, and resources. In the meantime, we will strive to solve the "last-kilometer" problem existing in the storage, cold-chain logistic, and delivery process between villages and towns. A long-term management, maintenance, and operation mechanism should be established, so as to bring convenience and benefit to the general public in the long run.
Fourth, public services in rural areas should be improved. Currently, we have worked to basically ensure the availability of public services in rural areas. But the quality of such services has yet to be improved when compared with those of cities as well as farmers' actual needs. Next, we need to establish a balanced allocation mechanism of public resources between urban and rural areas, paying attention to key issues farmers are concerned about, such as education, medical care, elderly care, and social insurance. We will continuously promote the equitable access to basic public services in urban and rural areas, in a bid to essentially achieve fairness out of the current inclusiveness.
In addition, the document also stressed that rural construction does not mean blindly constructing in rural areas. Instead, it requires coordinated efforts with specific focuses. County level areas should be taken as important focal point in the integrated development of urban and rural areas. We need to coordinate the developing efforts of infrastructure and public services between urban and rural areas with layered focus, and work to satisfy farmers' varied needs, so as to make sure that the functions are complementary, and the resources are well-coordinated. General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed that rural construction is undertaken for farmers, and their will must be respected. We will take a face-based, bottom-up approach, and do everything in our capacity to bring tangible benefits to the people.
Tang Renjian:
"Constructing for farmers" is very important, and this is not only what General Secretary Xi Jinping has stressed, but also the specific requirement stated in the "No.1 Central Document." Rural construction is not for you or me, but for farmers. Their needs and feelings must be taken care of, and all works must be done based on the actual situation of rural areas. We must do well in this regard during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, fighting against subjective will, formalism, and bureaucracy which could ruin our efforts. This is very important. Thank you.
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