AFTER completing his university education, Wang Jinyue dedicated himself to climbing the ladder to become a manager at an internet company in the bustling metropolis of Shanghai. When he decided to leave his position in 2017 and return to his rural hometown, this decision was met with bewilderment from his parents and friends.

It’s important to note that over the past few decades, the prevalent view among rural Chinese families has been focusing on seeking higher education and settling in urban areas as the most promising path for their children. This wave stemmed from rural migrant workers migrating to urban hubs in pursuit of better opportunities, taking on jobs in factories or construction and triggering a significant expansion of the urban economy.

This phenomenon is not exclusive to China. According to Li Yuheng, a researcher at the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the decline in rural areas during the process of urbanization and industrialization is a widespread challenge throughout human development history.

China’s economy has been transitioning to a new growth model that prioritizes higher quality and improved structure. In 2017, the country initiated the rural revitalization strategy to rectify the disparities between urban and rural regions. Four years later, China declared a complete victory in eradicating poverty.

Benefitting from the government’s supportive policies and continuous investment in technological advancements and public infrastructure in rural areas, a marked trend has emerged in China. A growing number of new farmers, mostly young, well-educated individuals armed with innovative ideas and skills, are moving to the countryside. They are working towards bridging the gap between urban and rural areas, addressing challenges with resourceful solutions.

Modern farming

Seven years ago, Wang Jinyue returned to his village in Tinglin Town of Jinshan District, Shanghai, and brought with him more than 70 engineers. He now serves as the chairman of Shanghai Diantian, an agricultural cooperative.

Recalling his childhood, Wang said, “I grew rice with my parents when I was a child, and I know all too well the hardship of farm work.” Wanting to alleviate the toil of agricultural work and empower farmers, he and his team immersed themselves in the research and development of agricultural machinery and equipment. This led to a futuristic farming scene unfolding in Tinglin Town. Utilizing advanced technologies such as satellite navigation systems and 5G signals, an AI farming robot took over the task of plowing the fields. Farmers can now control the robot through a WeChat app on their mobile phones, making farming more efficient and less physically demanding.

Wang said, “The robot’s driving error is within 2 centimeters, and its operating speed can reach 3 to 5 km per hour, equivalent to several days of manual plowing for a farmer.” As China’s population ages, the digital transformation of agriculture effectively addresses the shortage of labor.

Wang mentioned that the cost of sowing has dropped by over 37% thanks to robots powered by new energy. Costs for weeding, fertilization, and other farming activities have also decreased, ultimately leading to increased incomes for farmers.

Over the past seven years, Wang’s team has developed over 60 types of farm robots, taking care of tasks including plowing, planting, spraying, weeding and harvesting.

Aided by increased contributions from agricultural machinery and technology, China secured a grain harvest of over 650 million tons for the ninth consecutive year in 2023.

Convenient internet

Internet infrastructure is rapidly extending to out-of-the-way rural areas. By the end of 2022, China’s rural internet users exceeded 300 million. The facilities have made it easier for villagers to find jobs locally and access customers farther away.

In 2017, Wang Xiehong, with rich experience in internet marketing, persuaded four fellow townsmen to return from cities to their rural hometown in Longnan, Northwest China’s Gansu Province, where they started an e-commerce company. Longnan, known for its pleasant climate and rich natural resources, had previously struggled to transport local specialties like olive oil, honey, and pepper due to limited ways of transportation.

Local authorities in Longnan began vigorously to promote rural e-commerce, providing a new channel for the county to enhance agricultural efficiency and boost farmers’ income. “The nation’s policies for rural areas allow bigger room for development than in the past,” Wang said. “So, we started a business to sell the local agricultural products to the outside world.”

Wang’s e-commerce company opened several stores on leading online platforms like Taobao and Douyin, with sales reaching 2.6 million yuan (US$366,000) in 2019, enabling more than 400 households of farmers to increase their income. They also built a standardized processing plant to upgrade the packaging of local specialties, providing more jobs.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs reported that as a result of the robust rural e-commerce, China’s online retail sales in rural areas surged to 2.49 trillion yuan in 2023, with rural per capita disposable income hitting 21,691 yuan, up 7.6% from the previous year.

In addition, a logistics network is being rolled out across China’s vast rural areas. Longnan has improved rural logistics infrastructure in recent years, reducing typical delivery time from about one week to just two or three days within the rural region. This has further facilitated the growth of rural e-commerce and local businesses.

The lure of country life

When Chen Zhe, a Shanghai-based brand marketer, returned to his home in Yucun Village, Anji County, East China’s Zhejiang Province in 2022, he had only planned for a brief visit. However, his stay ended up lasting three months, as he was one of more than 60 young people recruited by local authorities as “global partners” to develop new business models for the village.

Yucun, once reliant on quarrying and suffering from environmental degradation, was selected for the Green Rural Revival Program launched by Zhejiang in 2003. This program aimed to enhance living conditions in rural areas by renovating approximately 10,000 villages and transforming about 1,000 of them into models of moderate prosperity.

Thanks to the program, Yucun shifted towards eco-tourism, leading to its recognition as one of the “Best Tourism Villages” by the United Nations World Tourism Organization in 2021 after two decades of dedicated effort.

Wang Yucheng, Party chief of Yucun, said, “The rural areas are becoming more and more attractive to young people. The global partners program is not simply an investment project, but rather an initiative aimed at attracting like-minded young people to start businesses and promote green development. Yucun will provide them with an entrepreneurial environment and solid support.”

Chen and his team, all under the age of 30, opened a Chinese comic-themed cafe in the newly built youth library in Yucun in March of that year.

“It feels like Yucun is a laboratory with many possibilities, and it can inspire the development of villages across China,” Chen said.

The global partners program has attracted over 1,100 young people from home and abroad to work and live in Yucun and its surrounding villages.

In an effort to retain young people, rural areas in Zhejiang are working to provide them with the same public services as in cities. For example, a service center built in Xiantan Village, Deqing County, is equipped with a health clinic, a childcare center, a gym, and a dance studio, offering one-stop services ranging from childcare to elderly care. Cultural spaces such as libraries and art galleries are also becoming more common across rural Zhejiang, further attracting new farmers.(Xinhua)