The State Council Information Office held a news conference, in Beijing, in May 2025, during which  representatives in the field of natural resources were invited to share their stories of and insights into their work. Wang Juanhui, director of Dong’an village committee, in Chongfu, a town in Tongxiang, a countylevel city administered by Jiaxing, a prefecture-level city in East China’s Zhejiang Province, was one of the representatives.

“This year marks my 17th year working in rural areas. As a village-level farmland chief, I live by eight words: ‘Begin with passion, stay true to my responsibility,’ Wang says. “To me, protecting arable land, promoting rural revitalization, and leading villagers toward shared prosperity is not a job — it is my life’s calling.”

Dong’an was formed by the merger of three smaller  villages. With a large population and a limited amount  of land, conflicts were common among the villagers. “Farmland is the ‘root’ of farmers. Only when the farmland is stable can people feel secure,” Wang says.

Jiaxing adopted a four-tier farmland-chief system in 2021. Wang was named a village-level farmland chief  in Dong’an. She faced challenges from the beginning.  For example, during one inspection, she discovered a plot of farmland had been illegally occupied. When she demanded the violator end the encroachment and  restore the land, the violator retorted, “Who still makes  money solely by farming nowadays?” That remark  struck Wang deeply.

Wang believes farmland is the lifeline for grain  production. So, she pressed ahead with the landrestoration plan with determination. She and her team visited households, repeatedly, and she patiently explained the long-term ecological benefits of farmland restoration to the villagers. In the end, not only did farming resume on the plot, but that land became a demonstration zone of high-standard farmland.

To make protection sustainable, Wang enshrined  farmland-protection rules in village regulations, and she established a grid-based-supervision network. She also formed a patrol squad, and she launched a “Farmland Protection Points Supermarket,” where villagers earn points, by patrolling the land, and then redeem the points for farming supplies. Her efforts have made land protection a shared responsibility. Thanks to her efforts, Dong’an added 78 mu (5.2  hectares) of fertile land to active farming in 2024. As a result, the village harvested an extra 45,000 kilograms of rice.

“Patrols alone will never be enough. We need technology,” Wang says. In 2022, Dong’an took the lead, in the province, in piloting the “Farmland Visual Intelligence Protection” reform, including integrating high-tower cameras, satellite imaging and drone overflights into a real-time, digital-monitoring network. Each plot is assigned a field inspector,  and any abnormal activity triggers instant alerts on inspectors’ phones. This system ensures round-theclock intelligent oversight over every inch of the farmland.

Protecting farmland, however, does not mean clinging to old methods. “We must guard the land while also finding ways to make villagers richer,” Wang says. Under strict land-use rules, she introduced rotation and intercropping models, expanded specialty agriculture, and developed study tours and hands-on farming experiences, to attract visitors. As a result, the village’s collective economy has grown from 2.63 million yuan (US $386,765), in 2019, to 8.26 million yuan (US $1.21 million), in 2025. Her efforts, and the village’s transformation, have earned Dong’an the title of “Featured Beautiful Village” in Zhejiang.

Wang has also guided the villagers in leveraging the Chongfu Agricultural Innovation Park platform, building high-standard greenhouses, developing flower-, fruit-, and vegetable-farming, and establishing large-scale production bases for low-carbon flowers,  such as phalaenopsis orchids. Today, Dong’an hosts the largest phalaenopsis cultivation base in the Yangtze River Delta, with annual output exceeding 4 million plants and generating a full-industry-chain value in excess of 100 million yuan (US $14.7 million).

Wang was thrilled by the Ecological and Environmental Code. She sees the code not as a mere compilation of laws, but as a systemic shift from fragmented governance to holistic, rule-based  environmental management. “This code arms us with  a stronger legal toolkit for our work,” she says. She particularly appreciates the section on green and low-carbon development, which aligns high-level protection with high-quality development, which  echoes Dong’an’s development path.

With the recent release of a plan for building a Beautiful China during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, Wang believes the next five years are critical for scaling the building of a Beautiful China.

She has three priorities: First, smarter, law-backed  farmland protection. She will upgrade the digitalmonitoring system and ensure permanent, basic farmland becomes stable, high-yield, and ecologically sound fertile plots. Second, stronger green industries. She will expand the orchid sector, attracting more women entrepreneurs to join and extend agritourism chains, to turn ecological value into shared prosperity. Third, better living environments. She will work to improve the rural environment, work with local women’s federations, to set up women volunteers’ teams for regular farmland and river protection,  promote the building of green households and beautiful villages, and ensure stable income growth for villagers.

“Standing at this new starting point,” Wang vows, “I will continue to lead my fellow villagers in cultivating this land of hope, making our skies bluer,  lands greener, waters cleaner and people wealthier, and contributing to the building of a Beautiful China.”