The eastern coastal city of Weihai, Shandong province has released a plan to advance agricultural and rural modernization during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25), officials from the municipal bureau of agriculture and rural areas said at a news conference on May 9.

A rural community in Weihai, Shandong province [Photo/Dazhong News]

During the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20), Weihai launched the rural vitalization strategy, accelerated the construction of modern agriculture, and accomplished the main targets set in the 13th Five-Year Plan for the development of modern agriculture.

In 2020, the total output value of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery industries in Weihai reached 55.47 billion yuan ($8.26 billion), with an annual growth rate of 2.7 percent, and modern orchards spanned an area of 22,000 hectares, leading the country in quality development.

The per capita disposable income of rural residents in 2020 reached 23,000 yuan, which amounts to an average annual increase of 7.4 percent from the end of 2015. All rural poor have been lifted out of poverty, and the proportion of villages with collective incomes of more than 50,000 yuan has reached 100 percent.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, Weihai will continue to promote coordinated development between rural and urban areas, advance rural vitalization on all fronts, as well as consolidate and expand the achievements made in poverty alleviation in coordination with the extensive drive for rural vitalization.

More efforts will be made to improve people's well-being and rural living environment, cultivate social etiquette and civility, and build a new socialist countryside that is beautiful, prosperous and harmonious.

By the end of 2025, the total output of grain is expected to be stable at 700,000 metric tons, and the total output of meat, eggs and milk is expected to reach 420,000 tons. The city also expects to have 780 agricultural entities above designated size, 203 provincial-level beautiful villages, and a per capita disposable income in rural areas of 33,800 yuan.