Residents in Longqiao village, Rugao, a county-level city in Nantong, have seen significant improvements in their living standards, thanks to Yan Haichun, Party secretary of the village.

The village is home to 2,268 residents. With 2,680 mu (388 hectares) of its 4,600-mu land being farmland, the village was identified by the Jiangsu Provincial Government as being weak in terms of economic development.

In recent years, Yan has given full play to the village's party committee in transforming the local industrial structure and increasing residents' incomes.

"We have arranged Party members to visit surrounding villages to learn about their experiences and worked to attract outstanding university graduates and industry veterans to join us," said Yan. "The final goal is to increase villagers' incomes."

The Party committee used available resources to build a 1,249-square-meter standard plant, which can bring in 80,000 yuan ($11,592) of rent each year.

The village also transferred 580 mu of land to establish a planting cooperative and partnered with a leading agricultural company in Rugao to ensure its sales.

In 2019, the village transferred another 400 mu of land to build a farm, forming a distinct development layout with high-quality rice growing in the south, seedlings in the middle, and heitacai, a unique species of Chinese cabbage in Rugoa, in the north.

So far, 65 percent of the village's land has been transferred, creating 80,000 yuan in income for the village and 800,000 yuan for villagers.

Last year, the village rid itself of the label of weak economic development.