Aerial photo shows the rural scenery of Zhouzhuang town, Kunshan City. [Photo/Xinhua]
China has released a five-year action plan on improving rural living environment. Rural living environment upgrade is closely related to the well-being of farmers and the construction of a beautiful China, according to the plan jointly issued by the General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council.
GENERAL REQUIREMENT
Basic Principles
Measures should be adapted to local conditions and applied by classification. Measures should be matched to the regional climate and topography, adapted to the local economic and social development capacity and level, coordinated to the local culture and custom. Establish classified treatment standards, objectives, and missions based on the reality, progressing upward from the lowest level. Adhere to the principle of quality over quantity, effectiveness over progress, excellence over quickness, and do everything within the capacity to improve the environment.
Enhancing planning and coordinating actions for the improvement of rural living conditions. Establish a systematic concept, construction follows the plan, coordinate and promote the major missions in rural living environment improvement based on the unit of the county, integrate key breakthroughs with comprehensive improvement, demonstration, and overall promotion, arrange the construction timetable properly, and achieve mutual reinforcement of rural living environment improvement, public infrastructure upgrade, rural industrial development, and rural cultural civilization progress.
Based on the conditions in rural areas and highlighting the local characteristics. Committed to the laws of rural development, reflect the features of villages, focus on local charm and preserve the scene of the countryside, and retain the rural cultural roots. Maintain interconnection of agriculture and villages, pursue ecological integration of production and living, promote the reduction, resource recovery, and recycling of rural domestic sewage and waste.
Consulting the farmers and learning about their needs, ensuring their principal status. With committed to farmer-centered development of the rural areas, villages are built for farmers as they wished, protect the farmers' rights to be informed, to participate, to be heard, and to exercise oversight. Emphasize the importance of local places, strengthen the responsibility of local party committees and governments, encourage social forces to actively participate in the construction, and build a joint construction and management pattern for the governments, markets, village collectives, and farmers.
Upholding continuous progress and stressing the improved mechanism. Ensure the interconnection between the mechanism and the three-year action plan of rural living environment improvement, continue to make efforts and achieve successes in steps. Put equal emphasis on construction, management, and utilization, make progress in building a systematic, regulated, and long-term policy institution and work mechanism.
Action Objectives
By 2025, the rural living environment will be significantly upgraded, and new progress will be made in the construction of eco-friendly and beautiful villages. The penetration rate of rural hygienic toilets will be steadily increased, and the toilet waste will be effectively treated. The treatment rate of rural domestic sewage will be continuously increased and random sewage will be under control. The level of harmless treatment of rural domestic waste will be dramatically increased, and villages with conditions will involve in domestic waste sorting programs and reduce the amount at the source. The level of living environment treatment will be enhanced and a long-term management mechanism will be basically established.
For the areas with conditions such as the eastern region and the suburban areas of central and western cities, comprehensively enhance the construction level of infrastructure of the rural living environment, enhance the hygienic toilets coverage rate in all rural areas, increase the rural domestic sewage treatment rate and raise the level of harmless treatment of household waste, promote the sorting pilot program, and establish a long-term mechanism for management and treatment.
For the areas with good conditions in the central and western regions, continuously improve the infrastructure of rural living environment, rural household toilets will be renovated according to farmers' willing, raise the domestic sewage treatment ratio in rural areas, make progress in raising the coverage of domestic waste collection and disposal system, and basically establish a long-term mechanism of waste management.
For the remote and undeveloped areas, improve the infrastructure of the rural living environment, gradually increase the coverage rate of hygienic toilets, the disposal level of sewage and household waste in villages should be newly improved, and continuously beautify the scene of the countryside.
PROMOTING THE RURAL TOILET REVOLUTION
Gradually popularize hygienic toilets in rural areas.
The renovated household toilets should be located in the yards, and those areas with conditions should actively promote the toilets in houses; new rural houses should be designed and equipped with sanitary facilities such as flush toilets and manure treatment devices. Focus on promoting the renovation of rural household toilets in central and western regions. Reasonably plan the layout of rural public toilets and improve daily sanitation.
Effectively improve the quality of toilet renovation.
Scientifically select the technical mode of toilet renovation, and use water or dry where appropriate. Strictly follow the standards, implement them throughout the whole process of rural toilet renovation. Accelerate the research and development of suitable technologies and products of hygienic toilets in arid and cold areas.
Strengthen the harmless treatment and resource recovery of toilet waste.
Enhance the organic connection between rural toilet revolution and domestic sewage treatment; promote the decentralized and centralized treatment of toilet waste as well as collect the waste into the sewage pipe network based on the local conditions; encourage the integrated waste treatment of households, villages, and towns. Encourage appropriate areas to promote the integrated construction of hygienic toilets renovation and domestic sewage treatment, and actively boost the resource recovery of rural toilet waste.
ACCELERATING THE RURAL DOMESTIC SEWAGE TREATMENT
Promote treatment in different regions and classifications.
Prioritize the treatment of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the Yellow River Basin, and other regions where the water quality needs to improve; focus on the treatment of water supply areas and rural domestic sewage in urban-rural areas, township seats, central villages, tourism scenic areas, and other residential areas with a large population. Carry out pilot treatment of rural domestic sewage in typical areas such as plains, mountains, hills, arid, alpine, and ecologically sensitive zones; encourage the adoption of artificial wetlands, soil percolation, and other ecological treatment techniques in scattered residential areas. Carry out pilot treatment of rural domestic sewage in typical areas such as plains, mountains, hills, water shortages, alpine and ecologically sensitive areas, and encourage the use of artificial wetlands, soil percolation and other ecological treatment techniques in scattered areas.
Strengthen the treatment of black and malodorous water bodies in rural areas.
Establish a treatment record based on a clear knowledge of the actual situation and any pressing problems; clarify the treatment priorities. Develop pilot treatment of rural black and malodorous water bodies with the focus on rivers, ponds, ditches, and channels in front and behind the houses, and where the local people are strongly concerned about; and basically eliminate large bodies of black and malodorous water. Implement the systems of river and lake chiefs to the village level, establish a long-term operation and maintenance mechanism to improve water quality.
ENHANCING THE LEVEL OF RURAL HOUSEHOLD WASTE
Improve the household waste management system.
Coordinate the facility construction and service provision of the three levels in the county, town, and village according to the actual situation; improve the collection, transfer, and disposal facilities and modes of rural household waste; adopt small-scaled and decentralized harmless treatment methods to reduce the cost of facility construction and operation, and establish a long-term operation mechanism with regular supervision, and continuously enhance the level of operation and management.
Promote the classification, reduction, and utilization of rural household waste.
Speed up the classification and reduction of rural household waste at source; explore a simple and easy way of waste sorting that meet the rural characteristics and farmer's habits; reduce the amount of waste transferred from the village; conditional areas should achieve the aims of resource recovery of recycled waste, prioritizing local use of perishable waste, cinder, and ash, separate collection and disposal of toxic and hazardous waste, and harmless treatment of other waste. Gradually develop the sorting and resource recovery of rural household waste.
IMPROVING THE OVERALL LIVING ENVIRONMENT IN RURAL AREAS
Improve the public environment of villages.
Completely clean up the disordered illegal construction and haphazardly piles, regenerate the leftover walls after demolition; expand rural public space through the intensive utilization of idle land within the village. Scientifically control the fires used in rural production and living; strengthen the maintenance and sorting of the rural "three lines" in terms of power lines, telecom lines, and radio and television lines. Improve the emergency management system in villages, rationally plan the layout of evacuation shelters, flood control, fire control, and other disaster relief facilities and equipment. Regulate outdoor advertisements in rural areas and standardize their content and installation method. Concern on the needs of special groups of people, and develop a barrier-free environment in rural areas where conditions permit.
Green and beautify the villages.
Implement rural greening and beautification actions; highlight the protection of rural mountains and fields, rivers, lakes and wetlands, native vegetation, ancient and famous trees, etc; green barren mountains and lands, build and restore the shelterbelts of the farmland （pasture）。 Support the suitable areas to build forest villages and implement pilot projects for the connectivity between water systems and brand the villages with the beautiful water environment.
Strengthen the guidance of the scene of the countryside.
Advocate renovation and improvement of villages and courtyards; formulate guidelines for improving the living environment in rural areas; optimize the ecological space for production and living in rural areas; integrate the village forms with the natural environment and traditional culture. Promote the guidance of the scene of the countryside, highlight the local characteristics and regional features, stop building look-alike villages, and avoid demolition and construction on a large scale. Advance and enrich the fine farming culture, strengthen the protection of traditional villages and towns and villages with rich historical and cultural heritage, list the traditional villages for protection, and establish a dynamic management mechanism.
Source：
<http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/2021-12/05/content_5655984.htm>
<http://english.www.gov.cn/policies/latestreleases/202112/06/content_WS61ad43a9c6d0df57f98e6119.html>
<https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202112/07/WS61aec6d0a310cdd39bc79ce0.html>
Edited and translated by GUO Xinxin
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