Haiyang, a county-level city in Yantai, East China's Shandong province, has achieved a top-tier grade A rating in a key national mid-term evaluation of rural vitalization efforts, ranking 14th of the 48 pilot counties.

The recognition focuses on its innovative "cluster-based" development model, which organizes neighboring villages into integrated zones for coordinated planning and resource sharing. 

A flagship project under this model is the new 13-million-yuan ($1.79 million) smart greenhouse in Beigou village. The 11,200-square-meter facility employs 16 integrated smart systems to cultivate high-value flavor tomatoes, with an expected annual output value of 2.75 million yuan. The project is set to boost the village's collective income by about 500,000 yuan annually while creating local jobs.

The greenhouse is a flagship project within Fengcheng subdistrict's "urban-rural integration and common prosperity" demonstration zone, established with national funds for revolutionary base areas. The strategy intentionally links five administrative villages and nine natural villages to enable shared development.

The success goes beyond Haiyang, which has developed a 25-kilometer rural tourism corridor connecting 26 villages, established multiple city and county-level demonstration clusters, and strengthened its agricultural foundation with numerous leading enterprises, digital farms, and modern orchards. Through this coordinated approach, Haiyang is creating a replicable model for sustainable rural transformation and urban-rural synergy.