Industrial prosperity brings rural vitalization to Shandong

Qingyun county in Shandong province regards the prosperity of industries as the foundation for rural vitalization and has been implementing a strategy in which it constructs a group of industrial parks, develops distinctive industries, and nurtures a group of business entities.

The county is accelerating the joint construction of industrial parks at national, provincial, municipal, and county levels, emphasizing the development of high-standard farmland and improving management services.

The county is leveraging national and provincial agricultural industrial parks to attract and cultivate leading enterprises, fostering the development of specialty crops such as jujubes, fruits, vegetables, Chinese medicinal herbs, and deep processing industries. This extension of the industrial chain elevates the value chain while deepening the integration of agriculture with commerce and tourism, promoting successive advancements in the new agricultural sector.

The county also helps small-scale farmers join in the cooperative development, fostering new agricultural business entities such as family farms, cooperatives, and agricultural bases.

For example, Nanhou village, once a provincially-designated impoverished village, has made significant progress in recent years. The village has established cooperatives while developing industries such as fruit and vegetable cultivation, flower planting, and koi fish breeding. In addition to land equity, villagers have gained stable income by working in cooperatives and neighboring agricultural enterprises, with an average annual income increase of more than 2,000 yuan ($277.92) per person and a collective annual income exceeding 500,000 yuan.

Out-of-town customers shop for koi fishes in Nanhou village, Qingyun county. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

In Yanwu township, technological advancements are driving modern agriculture, with efforts made to improve saline-alkali land using technology, resulting in an average yield of over 50 metric tons of rice every 6.67 hectares.

Rice harvest in the improved saline-alkali land in Yanwu township, Qingyun county. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

To date, Qingyun county has established 1167 new agricultural business entities and 41 leading agricultural enterprises, with 237 rural areas where the collective annual income exceeds 100,000 yuan, accounting for 71.6 percent of the total. (Edited by Yang Yi)