A Circular on Demonstration Work of Building Beautiful and Harmonious Village Issued

▲Yucun Village in Anji County, Zhejiang Province. [China Daily]

1. General Requirements.

1.1 Guiding ideology.

Follow the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and implement the important guiding principles of General Secretary Xi Jinping on building a beautiful and harmonious countryside that is desirable to live and work in, fully implement the relevant decisions and plans of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, and take demonstration of creating beautiful and livable villages as a carrier, conduct the countryside construction pilot programs through testing, modifying and then wider application, continuously improve the appearance and living environment of the countryside while developing infrastructure and public services and cultivating social etiquette and civility, and contribute to the comprehensive promotion of rural revitalization.

1.2 Basic principles.

Lead by demonstration and build by levels. Build a batch of beautiful and harmonious villages across the country and lead the localities to carry out demonstration activities at all levels to form a situation with facilitating coordination between different levels. Explore the formation of sustainable and applicable experiences and practices that can be learned and referenced to drive overall improvement.

Respect the law and be pragmatic. Complying with the laws of rural development, rationally arrange the timing sequences and standards for demonstration building. Based on the actual situation to build and improve, never extend our reach beyond the development stage to engage in large demolition and construction, avoid form over substance, or indulge in showcase projects.

Adjust to local conditions and advance in an orderly manner. According to the countryside resource endowment, the level of economic development, the traditional customs and culture, the expectation of villagers, etc., implement policies and advance the development in an orderly manner, never engaging in a one-size-fits-all strategy. Focus on local features, preserve the village form, and protect the rural landscape. Prevent the simple duplication of urban construction models, and build a beautiful countryside with its own characters.

Make the villager the main role and guide by the governments. Fully respect the willingness of villagers in whether to participate in the building of model villages and what to build and not engage in forced orders or arrangements. For highly motivated villagers, the government should strengthen the guidance services, give full play to the main role of villagers, let them become real participants, builders, and beneficiaries, and continue to stimulate the endogenous power of rural development.

1.3 Main objectives.

During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, we will strive to build 1,500 model beautiful and harmonious villages, lead and drive all localities to promote provincial demonstration activities based on local conditions, build different types of the beautiful and harmonious countryside that is desirable to live and work in with different characteristics to promote the rural revitalization.

2. Establish the Demonstration Criteria.

Take the administrative villages as the carrier of beautiful and harmonious villages, meet the requirements of beautiful environments, livable life and effective governance through the building of demonstration villages, which are in line with the requirements of comprehensively promoting rural revitalization. The criteria for the building of beautiful and harmonious villages will be dynamically adjusted according to the requirements of rural revitalization and the practical effects of applications.

Under the same conditions, priority will be given to those who meet one of the following conditions: first, the village or the members of the village “two committees” who have the honorary title of the provincial and ministerial level or above; second, the village who has a core to expand as a demonstration area; third, the administrative village who has stable funds and guarantee mechanisms for the setup and management.

If one of the following circumstances has occurred in the past three years, the building is not supported temporarily: first, the members of the village “two committees” who have serious disciplinary violations; second, major production safety accidents, environmental pollution and ecological damage occurred; third, mass security incidents or vital criminal cases occurred; fourth, other matters that have been notified or punished by the municipal level or above.

The beautiful and harmonious villages identified by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development before 2018 will be organized to review by the provincial agricultural and rural, housing and urban-rural development departments. The results of the review shall be reported to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development for the record. Those villages that passed the review will be designated that do not occupy the provincial recommended quotas.

3. Establish Demonstration Building Procedures.

3.1 Organize to build.

Both the local agricultural and rural affairs department and housing and urban-rural development department shall encourage and organize administrative villages to participate in the building of beautiful and harmonious village procedures within their jurisdictions. Organize and guide the villagers to voluntarily enhance their living environment under the establishment of building criteria.

3.2 Promote to apply.

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development shall determine the recommendation quotas of provinces （autonomous regions or municipalities） and Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps during the period of the “14th Five Year Plan”。 Each place shall carry out annual recommendations and determine the number of recommendation quotas according to the progress of the building work respectively. County-level agriculture and rural departments and housing and urban-rural developments will submit the application materials of eligible villages to the respective departments at the provincial level based on the lawful procedures. Provincial departments shall review the application materials and organize the field trips for inspections, and recommend the best to the Ministries.

3.3 Assess to designate.

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development shall organize expert assessments of the materials recommended by the provincial counterparts, and conduct random field trip inspections according to the actual situation at the appropriate time. For the villages that pass the inspections, they will be designated with no objection after publicizing. In 2023, it will launch the first recommendation to apply as well as the review work, and the details will be issued separately.

3.4 Summarize the experience.

The agriculture and rural affairs department, as well as the housing and urban-rural development department, shall summarize the experience from the demonstration building work, promote the successful experience and practical results via preparing the briefings, on-site visits and other ways, so as to effectively play a leading role in the demonstration. The Ministries will take appropriate methods to publicize the typical experience and promote effective practices.

3.5 Implement dynamic management.

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development shall launch dynamic monitoring and evaluation on the designated villages, urge those with problems to rectify within a time limit, and delist the unsuccessful rectification villages while reducing the recommendation quotas in their province.

4. Support Policies and Mechanisms.

4.1 Strengthen guidance services.

Local agricultural and rural affairs department and housing and urban-rural development department shall strengthen on-site surveys, reinforce business and training guidance, guide and support the campaign of bringing design to the countryside, and consolidate the demonstration work. All localities are encouraged to advance step by step according to the mechanism of “reserving a batch, building a batch, and designating a batch”。

4.2 Increase policy support.

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development will give priority and preference to the administrative villages that have crowned the title of “Beautiful and Harmonious Village” in terms of project and policy pilot program arrangement. Local departments may formulate relevant incentive measures for the “two committees” and its members of the administrative village who have designated the title.

4.3 Promote publicity.

Local agricultural and rural affairs department and housing and urban-rural development department ought to use various types of media to publicize the practical experience and successful achievements of building beautiful and harmonious village, expand the influence and create a harmonious social atmosphere.

Source：

http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/2022-10/21/content_5720246.htm

Editor & Translator: GUO Xinxin