China's revitalized countryside gains attention abroad

Farmers dry agricultural products in a village in Longsheng Ge Autonomous County, Guilin, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. (Photo/Liu Jiaoqing)

With the ninth Chinese Farmers' Harvest Festival falling on Sept. 23, stories of China's harvests and farming expertise are increasingly appearing on social media platforms overseas.

Topics such as agricultural technology, rural development and international agricultural cooperation have drawn strong interest and discussion on overseas social media, according to big data analysis and sample surveys.

Dai Shuying, an 83-year-old farmer from east China's Anhui Province, went viral on overseas social media earlier this year. She learned to fly drones from her grandson. Now she installs the battery, unfolds the arms, loads the fertilizer and swipes the screen to take off — every step handled with ease.

In a black soybean field in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, an AI laser weeding machine moves steadily through the crops. Equipped with high-definition cameras and a high-performance edge computing platform, it can tell soybean seedlings from weeds in milliseconds. The control system, paired with a dynamic targeting algorithm, locks onto a weed and directs a beam at its meristem. The liquid inside the cells vaporizes and expands until the cell ruptures — a method that removes more than 95 percent of weeds.

In a tea garden in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, a robot dog with a white basket picks its way along winding paths, hauling freshly picked leaves downhill — cutting the trip from harvest to processing.

The contribution rate of scientific and technological progress to China's agriculture surpassed 64 percent. Smart farming is spreading fast, and the equipment is proving itself in production.

Rural China is finding an audience abroad. On YouTube, a video of everyday life in the mountains of Hunan and Guizhou provinces has drawn more than 4 million views.

Analysis shows that overseas viewers are following one question about rural China: whether the basics have arrived — convenient transport, accessible education and health care, internet and delivery in ordinary homes.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021–2025), China made substantial gains in rural infrastructure, public services and living conditions. Bus services now reach nearly every administrative village; 5G coverage and express delivery reach more than 95 percent. More than 95 percent of village clinics have been included in the national medical insurance system.

Data analysis shows that many overseas social media users are asking whether China's agricultural know-how can help other countries raise yields, and whether China runs regular technology exchanges, joint training and field projects with farmers abroad.

China's record suggests the answer is yes. It runs training programs, sends experts abroad and works with partner countries on agricultural projects.

In recent years, China's agricultural aid abroad has delivered results. With support from Chinese expert teams, rice yields in Burundi have risen from around 3 tonnes per hectare to 10 to 13. The China-Brazil Family Farming Mechanization Science and Technology Backyard project has helped Brazilian farmers cut operating time by 80 percent and production costs by 60 to 80 percent. China's Juncao technology has reached more than 100 countries and regions.

Guo Ganggang, deputy director of the Institute of Crop Sciences under the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said Chinese agricultural professionals are stepping up cooperation abroad — helping partner countries raise grain output, farm more efficiently and lift farmers' incomes. That work, he said, contributes Chinese solutions to global food security.