International students and teachers pose for a group photo in Tai'an, Shandong province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Recently, 16 international students and teachers from nine countries, including Russia, Burundi, and the Philippines, who are from the Central University of Finance and Economics (CUFE), visited beautiful rural areas in Tai'an to learn about big changes and development brought by rural vitalization.

The international students and teachers visited a research institute for rural vitalization examples of Shandong province, and model villages including Balou village, Dongximen village and Beizhang village in Daiyue district. They experienced the significant changes brought by the reform and opening-up in rural areas in China. They gained an understanding of China's unwavering belief and determination in the strategies for rural vitalization.

International students and teachers visit rural areas in Tai'an, Shandong province, to learn about big changes and development brought by rural vitalization. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

They also visited a village in Feicheng, a county-level city of Tai'an, where they learned about the high-quality operation mode of rural village-level organizations in China, studied the role of new rural cooperatives as a link in rural vitalization, and experienced the development of modern agriculture and rural areas in China on the fertile land of rural vitalization.

"The students were shocked at what they saw. Some students told me that they would tell the real China and the real rural areas to their relatives and friends when they return to their own countries," said Li Chunling, dean of the International Cultural Exchange School of CUFE.