Uncategorized
Zhejiang’s green program gives new image to rural areas
By Dou Hanyang, Han Xin, Qiu Haifeng, People’s Daily
In the beautiful field in Pushan village, east China’s Zhejiang province, tourists joined a bamboo dance led by villagers, immersed in a joyful atmosphere filled with laughter.
No one would believe that the place was once covered by illegal buildings and stinky trash dumps.
“It was smelly in hot weather, with flies and mosquitoes flying all over the space,” villager Lei Hongchen recalled.
Deciding to change the situation, the village removed illegal buildings, refurbished the walls of residential buildings and upgraded public spaces. Today, with the idyllic landscape and unique local features, the village has become a renowned photogenic spot for social media.
The story of Pushan village is a miniature of how Zhejiang province has promoted its green program in rural areas, which aims at practicing the concept that “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets” in rural areas.
In June 2003, under the initiative of Xi Jinping, who once served as provincial Party chief, Zhejiang launched the Green Rural Revival Program, which selects 10,000 administrative villages in the province for comprehensive improvement, and plans to turn 1,000 of them into demonstration villages of moderate prosperity in all respects.
Over the past two decades, a number of projects were launched under the program, including sewage treatment, closures of coal mines to tackle air and land pollution, and trash classification, which comprehensively lifted the image of the countryside in Zhejiang province.
Thanks to the program, the living environment was bettered in 27,000 administrative villages across the province. A total of 2,170 featured villages and over 3 million beautiful rural courtyards were built. The forest coverage in Zhejiang now exceeds 61 percent, indicating substantial improvement in rural ecology and environment.
In 2018, the program won the Champions of the Earth award, the highest environmental honor given by the United Nations.
Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets. Over the recent years, Zhejiang province has vigorously developed eco-agriculture, rural e-commerce and rural tourism sectors, drawing a picture of a vibrant eco-driven economy.
In Miaoshan village of Huzhou, Zhejiang province, B&B hotels in the shape of straw hats were built, an old bucket factory was turned into an art gallery, and an ancient livestock farm was changed into a water park. Thanks to these transformations, the village saw a collective operating income of 2.28 million yuan ($322,974) last year.
In today’s Zhejiang, parks are commonly seen in villages, where residence buildings have been turned into B&B hotels. Villagers became shareholders who benefited from the local resources.
In 2022, the per capita disposable income of rural residents in the province stood at 37,565 yuan, up 6.6 percent from a year ago. The urban-rural income gap was narrowed to a ratio within 1.9 ahead of schedule. This has laid a solid foundation for Zhejiang to build itself into a demonstration zone for achieving common prosperity with its high-quality development.
The sound ecology is a big attraction to talents. Twelve kilometers away from Miaoshan village, there is a “valley of science” in Xisai Mountain, which is home to 23 small-sized scientific research institutions.
According to an official with Huzhou’s science and technology bureau, the valley has attracted over 500 sci-tech talents and 24 research programs. A batch of universities will be built there soon, including Huzhou College, the official said.
Exploring featured paths while sticking to historical and cultural traditions helps realize better development.
In Longxian village of Lishui in southwest Zhejiang, villager Wu Yongqiang runs a B&B hotel. Traditional fish-shaped lanterns are hanging inside the hotel and outside of it there are layers of terraces, where visitors can join rice transplanting, harvesting and fish-catching activities.
The traditional Rice-Fish Culture system, which fertilizes fields with fish manure and feeds fish with rice in turn, has a history of over 1,000 years in Longxian village. It was listed in the world’s first group of the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems designated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 2005.
Inheriting its unique farming traditions and leveraging local features, Longxian village has built a new form of rural tourism that combines sightseeing and experience activities based on the inheritance and conservation of the traditional Rice-Fish Culture system.
Up to now, Zhejiang province has 14 nationally important agricultural heritage sites and four Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems. It has put 432 key villages and 2,105 general villages under protection and proper utilization in 10 batches of projects.
Aiming at environmental treatment, Zhejiang’s Green Rural Revival Program comes with targeted measures and well-coordinated plans in light of local conditions. It places importance on the conservation of traditional culture and characteristics of villages, and promotes transformation in development models and lifestyles.
The program has drawn a picture of China’s new countryside, which proves that Chinese modernization, with a feature of green development, follows a win-win approach to both economic progress and environmental protection.
In the future, the country will continue making steady efforts in building a beautiful and harmonious countryside that is desirable to live and work in, work for a beautiful China, and make more contributions to the world’s ecological progress.
By Fabian Apechihin
The 2026 Constitution Amendment Bill has moved to the state level following its consideration by the National Assembly, paving the way for state legislatures to consider the proposed amendments.
The development comes amid renewed attention on constitutional reform and ongoing discussions over proposed changes to Nigeria’s governing framework.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has defended FCT Minister Nyesom Wike over allegations surrounding borrowing by the Federal Capital Territory Administration.
House spokesperson Akin Rotimi Agbese, speaking in an interview with Channels Television, rejected claims that Wike had undertaken borrowing without the knowledge or approval of the National Assembly.
Agbese said the FCT minister could not independently create a sovereign borrowing obligation, stressing that public borrowing is subject to constitutional, statutory and administrative procedures.
“Wike has committed no infraction in borrowings. There is no basis for the allegation that he has been borrowing money behind the back of the National Assembly,” Agbese said.
He explained that borrowing to finance infrastructure was not unlawful where the required approvals and procedures had been followed.
“Borrowing for infrastructure development is not unlawful in itself, provided the prescribed approvals and procedures are followed,” he added.
The House spokesperson further argued that an increase in the FCT’s debt profile should not automatically be interpreted as evidence of illegal borrowing, citing the scale of infrastructure projects being undertaken in Abuja under Wike.
According to Agbese, the key issue is whether the appropriate approvals were obtained for specific borrowing transactions, rather than simply whether the FCT’s overall debt profile has increased.
The comments come as scrutiny continues over public borrowing, infrastructure financing and the legal procedures governing government debt at both the federal and sub-national levels.
By Fabian Apechihin
The 2026 Constitution Amendment Bill has moved to the state level following its consideration by the National Assembly, paving the way for state legislatures to consider the proposed amendments.
The development comes amid renewed attention on constitutional reform and ongoing discussions over proposed changes to Nigeria’s governing framework.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has defended FCT Minister Nyesom Wike over allegations surrounding borrowing by the Federal Capital Territory Administration.
House spokesperson Akin Rotimi Agbese, speaking in an interview with Channels Television, rejected claims that Wike had undertaken borrowing without the knowledge or approval of the National Assembly.
Agbese said the FCT minister could not independently create a sovereign borrowing obligation, stressing that public borrowing is subject to constitutional, statutory and administrative procedures.
“Wike has committed no infraction in borrowings. There is no basis for the allegation that he has been borrowing money behind the back of the National Assembly,” Agbese said.
He explained that borrowing to finance infrastructure was not unlawful where the required approvals and procedures had been followed.
“Borrowing for infrastructure development is not unlawful in itself, provided the prescribed approvals and procedures are followed,” he added.
The House spokesperson further argued that an increase in the FCT’s debt profile should not automatically be interpreted as evidence of illegal borrowing, citing the scale of infrastructure projects being undertaken in Abuja under Wike.
According to Agbese, the key issue is whether the appropriate approvals were obtained for specific borrowing transactions, rather than simply whether the FCT’s overall debt profile has increased.
The comments come as scrutiny continues over public borrowing, infrastructure financing and the legal procedures governing government debt at both the federal and sub-national levels.
By Fabian Apechihin
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has reaffirmed its intention to contest the 2027 presidential election despite the decision of Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, to support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election bid.
The party said Wike’s decision was personal and did not alter its position to participate in the presidential election with its candidate, Senator Sandy Onor. PDP National Publicity Secretary, Jungudo Haruna Mohammed, made the clarification on Wednesday.
According to the party, a recent conversation between Wike and Onor should not be interpreted as a political negotiation between the minister and the PDP.
“He told Nigerians that Sandy is his friend. And they only had a friendly discussion within the umbrella of friendship. So, that is just a personal discussion between him and his friend,” Mohammed said.
He added that Wike’s support for Tinubu did not prevent the PDP from fielding candidates for the presidential, governorship and legislative elections.
Wike had earlier clarified that his support in 2027 was specifically for Tinubu’s presidential re-election and did not amount to an agreement that the PDP would withdraw from other electoral contests. He also said he never promised that the PDP would abandon its candidates for governorship, National Assembly and State House of Assembly elections.
“I said I will support the President from day one. I never told Mr President I will join APC,” Wike said.
The minister also maintained that his proposed Rainbow Coalition was not an arrangement with the All Progressives Congress (APC), but rather a platform through which politicians from different parties could mobilise support for Tinubu’s re-election.
The issue has generated disagreement with some APC governors, who have expressed concern about a political arrangement that could affect the party’s candidates at other levels.
APC Progressive Governors’ Forum Chairman, Hope Uzodinma, said the governors would not support any alliance or arrangement that could weaken the APC or adversely affect its candidates.
Meanwhile, APC presidential campaign council spokesperson Ima Niboro has urged Wike and APC governors to end their public exchanges and concentrate on political mobilisation.
“When I said tone down the rhetoric, I do not mean stop working. Stop talking, go and work,” Niboro said.
He urged political leaders to strengthen their grassroots structures and engage directly with voters rather than continue exchanging statements in the media.
“All this shouting is not taking anybody anywhere. Go and work. Go and establish your authority on your political base,” he said.
2026 Constitution Amendment Bill Moves to States
2026 Constitution Amendment Bill Moves to States
2027: PDP Insists on Presidential Contest Despite Wike’s Support for Tinubu
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