Earlier this year, in a policy article, Chinese President Xi Jinping urged the next generation to lead in areas from scientific and technological innovation to green development and rural revitalization. As the Chinese mainland celebrated Youth Day on May 4, stories like that of Wang Lingli show what this vision looks like on the ground.
While many graduates flock to cities chasing urban dreams, Wang Lingli, a ’90s-born graduate, defied expectations in 2015 by returning to her rural hometown in the Chinese mainland’s southwest as a farm manager for a 3,000-mu (200-hectare) cooperative.
Facing skepticism from villagers asking, “You went to university just to farm?”, she pressed ahead with smart agriculture and advanced machinery to boost yields and streamline operations.
By 2023, Wang had expanded her operations to 7,000 mu (467 hectares), producing over 6,000 tonnes of wheat and rice and directly benefiting more than 2,000 local households. During peak seasons, average yields per mu rose by 25 kilograms, farmers earned over 5,000 yuan (about $688) per month, and machinery operators could make 300 to 400 yuan a day.
Her impact earned her the national role model worker award in Beijing ahead of International Labor Day—the first honor of its kind for someone from her hometown.
Wang is part of a new wave of “new farmers”—educated young people bringing fresh ideas to the countryside. According to Han Wenxiu, executive deputy director of the Office of the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs, over 12 million people have relocated to rural areas to start businesses, marking a nationwide uptick in rural entrepreneurship.
This youth-driven rural revitalization is reshaping landscapes on the Chinese mainland and could offer a blueprint for sustainable agricultural communities around the world.
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
