The Hongyan village has more than 600 hectares of vineyards, which are the major source of farmers' income. (Photo/China Daily)

Guizhou province's government has started a "prosperous villages" plan in rural areas to boost economic development and improve quality of life.

"The plan is an important part of our 'beautiful countryside' program and the government spent more than 2.1 billion yuan ($336 million) last year to further improve rural infrastructure," said Chen Yiqin, executive vice-governor of Guizhou.

She said the plan aims to balance development between rural and urban areas and lay solid foundations to allow the entire province to be financially comfortable by 2020.

Statistics showed there were more than 10,000 projects under construction to boost the environment, traffic system and quality of life in the villages.

The plan also aims to optimize rural industrial structures and help farmers increase incomes through developing industries such as modern agriculture and tourism.

According to the plan, governments at various levels in Guizhou will offer support and financial assistance to build public facilities in rural areas, such as roads, healthcare centers and water supplies.

"The well-being of rural residents is crucial for Guizhou to build an all-round well-off society. It's not only about economic indices, but it also depends on whether the people are happy or not," Chen said at a conference in December 2013.

To ensure the plan goes smoothly the provincial department of finance researched every village in Guizhou to find out what needed to be improved.

The department said it planned to invest 10 billion yuan between 2013 and 2017 to strengthen infrastructure construction in 43,000 villages.

"Many of the ideas we used in the plan were actually from villagers themselves," said Chen Jingde, a department official.

Chen said improving infrastructure would not only change the environment where people lived but also bring them business and job opportunities by building facilities for industrial development in their home villages.

He said the department also allocated funds for ecology and ancient village protection to ensure no damage would be done to local nature and culture.

A separate project, the "beautiful countryside" campaign, includes five other plans relating to water, electricity power, housing, roads and communication facilities in rural areas.

The government said it would invest more than 151 billion yuan to carry out all the plans.

"The 'beautiful countryside' program has great significance in pushing forward rural development," said Chen Min'er, governor of Guizhou.

"We are trying to make villages in Guizhou better places to live, and to build a well-off society in the countryside in five to eight years."