BEIJING -- In the early 2000s, Xi Jinping, then the top official of East China's Zhejiang province, quietly told his aides during a rural inspection trip that he wanted to visit places that were not on the itinerary.

Gu Yikang, an official who often traveled with Xi on the inspections at the time, recalled that after touring a "model village" arranged by local officials, Xi left with a furrowed brow.

"The county Party chiefs are very smart," Xi told Gu, referring to their arrangement to showcase the better side of the villages, "but from what I saw along the way, not all villages are this well-developed."

On the way to the next stop, he changed course and stopped by a village that had not been included in the official schedule.

It was just as he suspected: that village fell short in almost every way, and it represented the real situation in rural Zhejiang of the time — model villages were in the minority, and far more common were villages with rundown appearances, littered and crisscrossed by open sewage.

By then, Zhejiang was already at the forefront of China's reform and opening-up drive, which had boosted its rural incomes significantly. However, this progress stood in stark contrast to the poor environment. In many areas, pollution from livestock breeding, fertilizers and pesticides, as well as household waste, became a headache for the locals.

A survey in 2002 found that only about one-tenth of the province's some 40,000 villages had relatively good environmental conditions, while the majority were still plagued by pollution and poor sanitation.

Based on these observations, Xi pointed out that improving rural environments should be placed in a "very important position."

Under the leadership of Xi, then chief of the Zhejiang provincial committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the province launched the Green Rural Revival Program in 2003, aimed at improving rural production, living and ecological conditions. It planned to comprehensively upgrade around 10,000 villages over five years and turn about 1,000 of that number that were classed as central villages into examples of moderate prosperity in all respects.

To advance the program in a systematic and coordinated manner, Zhejiang established a task force involving more than 10 government agencies, including those responsible for finance, transportation, water resources and environmental protection, with efforts focused on garbage and sewage treatment, toilet renovation, road paving and village greening.

Over the past two decades, the Green Rural Revival Program has evolved from rural environmental improvement into a broader strategy encompassing rural livability, urban-rural integration and common prosperity.

What began as a provincial initiative has expanded nationwide, reshaping the landscape of rural China.

"The building of pleasant living environments in rural areas can help farmers gain a stronger sense of gain and happiness through rural vitalization," said President Xi, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission.

As China accelerates promoting common prosperity, Zhejiang's experience as an early model of rural development has been incorporated into national development plans as part of the country's efforts to advance rural revitalization.

According to the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30), China will draw on the experience gained in the Green Rural Revival Program to build a beautiful and harmonious countryside that is desirable to live and work in.

In September 2018, the Green Rural Revival Program received the Champions of the Earth award, the United Nations' highest environmental honor, for its transformation of once heavily polluted rivers and streams.

Experts noted that the Green Rural Revival Program reflects Xi's people-centered approach to governance and his emphasis on coordinated urban-rural development, with the goal of ensuring that farmers share in the fruits of development and the benefits of modern civilization.

"Over two decades, the program has transformed China's countryside and laid the groundwork for the country's rural vitalization," said Song Fufan, a professor with the Party School of the CPC Central Committee (National Academy of Governance).