China adopts new law to promote rural vitalization

BEIJING -- A law on the promotion of rural vitalization was adopted by China's national legislature on Thursday, providing the country a legal guarantee in pursuit of the rural vitalization strategy.

The law was adopted after the third reading at the 28th session of the 13th National People's Congress Standing Committee, which opened on Monday.

Chinese farmers' harvest festival, which falls on the Autumn Equinox every year, has been written into this law.

According to the new law, an assessment system of rural vitalization will be built, along with the establishment of an annual work report system as well as supervision and inspection systems.

The law stipulates protecting the permanent basic cropland, building a system to ensure a steady increase in rural income, and strengthening the work involving rural talent.

It also demands efforts to improve the protection system of key ecosystems and the ecological compensation mechanism.

The law emphasizes establishing and improving the management system for rural housing safety, and bans the merger of villages against farmers' will.

The law containing 74 articles will come into force on June 1, 2021.

In 2017, China proposed a rural vitalization strategy as a key move to accelerate the modernization of agriculture and rural areas, and has since adopted a host of policies to chart the roadmap for rural vitalization.

In this year's government work report, China has pledged to implement the strategy of rural vitalization in an all-round manner, promoting the stable development of the agricultural sector and increasing farmers' income.