Shandong province in East China has been ramping up efforts to promote rural vitalization in the past decade, local media reported.

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2012, Shandong has been working to promote robust agriculture, beautiful landscapes and prosperous farmers in rural areas.

Shandong province works to promote robust agriculture, beautiful landscapes and prosperous farmers in rural areas. [Photo/Dazhong News]

Thanks to the province's unremitting efforts, fruitful results have been made in rural vitalization. Total grain output in Shandong has remained above 50 million tons for eight consecutive years. Its total output value of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery exceed 1 trillion yuan ($139.8 billion) in 2020 and continued to grow rapidly, and the per capita disposable income of rural residents in the province exceeded 20,000 yuan for the first time in 2021.

Shandong, a major agricultural province, has been working hard to safeguard national food security. By the end of 2021, a total of 4.52 million hectares of high-quality farmland had been developed in Shandong.

So far, about 386,667 hectares of saline-alkali farmland has been transformed in Shandong and the province has establishes 11 innovation platforms for the comprehensive utilization of saline-alkali land. The province has cultivated 200 new crop varieties resistant to salt and alkali.

Shandong has also highlighted industrial support for promoting rural vitalization, and has accelerated the construction of a modern agricultural industrial system, with Yantai apples, Shouguang vegetables and other clusters moving closer to the 100 billion yuan level.

The lush green rural landscapes in Shandong province [Photo/Dazhong News]