Xi's strategy brings grads back to village

"Life in the village is as good as in the city. We have our own apartment and we are familiar with the people and the environment," she said.

Meanwhile, an ancient town that is one kilometer from the company where Li works is being restored. Gao, the Party chief of Sanjianxi village, said the restoration work is progressing rapidly, and the village plans to promote tourism in line with President Xi's rural revitalization strategy.

Xi proposed the strategy at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2017, with the goal of building up rural areas with thriving businesses, pleasant living conditions, effective governance and prosperity.

An article by Xi on the rural revitalization strategy that was published on June 1 said that without modernization of agriculture and rural areas, there can be no modernization of the country.

Xi said in the article that the modernization of agriculture and rural areas is the overall goal of the strategy.

Gao said, "We are integrating resources in the agricultural sector and service industries in order to provide local farmers with a regular income."

Zhao Shunli, 57, a farmer, is planning to set up a shop in the ancient town to sell baked sweet potatoes.

The combined income of Zhao and his son and daughter has risen to around 10,000 yuan this year - twice as much as last year.

With neat rows of apartments, and clean and wide roads, Sanjianxi has few signs of a rural area. More than 40 percent of farmers in the village have moved to apartments, with the remainder expected to shift to apartments within two years, Gao said. The village also has advanced sewage treatment facilities.

Statistics from the village administration show that the average income of residents of the village, once poverty stricken, is 26,000 yuan, while businesses have registered annual income of 3 million yuan.

The Jinan city government is promoting the village as an example of rural revitalization.

Shandong released a five-year plan on its rural revitalization last year, the first of its kind, listing a number of major projects, programs and actions for 2018-22.

Some of the projects include talent hiring, land use and industrial infrastructure in the rural areas.

"When we went to college years ago, we had hoped to settle down in a city," said Li Shaoqing, the pig farmer. "But it is in our village that we realized our dream of living a quality life, thanks to rural revitalization."