Rural areas have been lagging behind urban area in social and economic development in China, resulting in great gaps in many aspects including basic infrastructure and access to public services such as education and healthcare. Greater efforts have been made in recent years to emphasize the development of agriculture and rural areas to reduce the gap.

China removed the last rural counties from its poverty list last year, a key part of the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects.

In October 2017, the top leadership put forward the rural rejuvenation strategy, which aimed at essentially modernizing China's agriculture and rural areas by 2035, and achieving all-around prosperity in rural areas by 2050.

Over the next five years, measures will help with the development of counties that recently got rid of poverty to prevent residents from falling into poverty again, the document said.

Other major tasks include improving the supply of major agricultural products, boosting seed cultivation, intensifying protection of farmland, accelerating planning and development of villages and improving sanitary conditions in rural areas.

Xinhua contributed to this story.