An aerial shot of the evergreen Nansan town. [Photo by Lang Shuchen/Zhanjiang Daily]

Zhanjiang has outlined major targets and tasks to address issues related to agriculture, rural areas, and rural people at the Implementation Plan of Zhanjiang Countryside Revitalization Strategy (2018-2020).

The plan, which was approved at the 4th Session of the 14th Zhanjiang Municipal People's Congress, pledges to invest another 500 million yuan ($79.5 million) to increase rural income through modernizing the agricultural industry.

"The primary industry of agriculture must be modernized so we can diversify our future economic output. Also, rural tourism will be a key catalyst for the development of the tertiary industry", said Zhanjiang Party secretary Zheng Renhao.

Suixi county's beautiful rural landscape. [Photo by Zhang Fengfeng/Zhanjiang Daily]

Back in 2017, the agricultural industry made up 30 percent of Zhanjiang's gross regional product. Apart from scaled plantations of high-tier agricultural products, Zhanjiang has also been productive in the construction of infrastructure and modern agricultural demonstration zones.

Zhanjiang's great emphasis on agriculture has raised the demand for improvements on the rural revitalization strategies on the one hand, and laid a solid foundation for the implementation of these strategies on the other hand.

Zhan Yongxiong, a deputy to the provincial People's Congress, described Zhanjiang as Guangdong's test subject for rural vitalization. He also hopes that the provincial government will give Zhanjiang more support in terms of policies, capital and talent introduction.