Farmhands pick day lilies in a field full of the delightful flowers, in a region administered by Lishui. [Photo/Lishui Daily]

The incomes of residents in the rural areas of Lishui city in East China's Zhejiang province are continuing to grow and in 2020, their average per capita disposable income came in at 23,637 yuan ($3,711), an increase of 7.8 percent over the previous year.

That kind of performance has enabled the growth rate there to rank first in the province for 12 consecutive years.

As the largest forest city in Zhejiang, Lishui is said to have been actively innovating ways to increase people's incomes based on its natural resources.

The city is continuing to developed its own regional public brands, after having in recent years established Lishui Shangeng for its agricultural products, Lishui Shanju for its homestay facilities and Lishui Shanjing for its rural tourist attractions.

Taking Lishui Shangeng as an example, in 2020 the annual sales of the brand topped 10 billion yuan, with an average premium rate of 30 percent. 

"There are now more than 30 homestays and agritainment facilities in our village, which can accommodate 450 tourists at a time," said Zhang Weiwu, secretary of the Yantou village Party branch. 

The vigorous growth of a variety of new forms of business has reportedly led to a nearly nine-fold increase in the per capita disposable incomes of residents in the village over the past 15 years.

Lishui also plans to put more than 20 million yuan every year into farmer training programs. Since the beginning of the current year, the city has launched a campaign to train tens of thousands of farmers to promote common prosperity. It is estimated that more than 150,000 farmers have been trained to date.