The “Thousand-Village Demonstration, Ten-Thousand-Village Renovation” Project Opens a New Journey in Rural Human Settlement Environment Governance

The 20th National Congress of the CPC emphasized that, on the new journey of the New Era, to comprehensively build a modern socialist country and comprehensively promote rural revitalization, it is necessary to further “coordinate the layout of rural infrastructure and public services, and build livable, workable, and harmonious beautiful villages.” [n1] In 2003, General Secretary Xi Jinping, while working in Zhejiang, led the people of Zhejiang to vigorously carry out the “Thousand-Village Demonstration, Ten-Thousand-Village Renovation” project, taking the lead nationwide in initiating the improvement of rural human settlement environments. This launched the great practice of rural human settlement environment governance in China in the new century and New Era, got the comprehensive modernization of Chinese-path rural governance off to a good start, and laid a solid foundation for rural human settlement environment governance in China in the New Era.

党的二十大强调，新时代新征程，全面建设社会主义现代化国家，全面推进乡村振兴，必须进一步“统筹乡村基础设施和公共服务布局，建设宜居宜业和美乡村”。2003年，习近平总书记在浙江工作期间带领浙江人民大力开展“千村示范、万村整治”工程，在全国率先启动农村人居环境整治，开启了新世纪新时代中国农村人居环境治理的伟大实践，为全面推进中国式乡村治理现代化起好了步、开好了局，奠定了新时代中国农村人居环境治理坚实基础。

The “Thousand-Village Demonstration, Ten-Thousand-Village Renovation” project opens up the construction of “ecologically livable, workable, and harmonious beautiful villages.” The “Thousand-Village Demonstration, Ten-Thousand-Village Renovation” project is an important decision personally conceived, deployed, and promoted by General Secretary Xi Jinping during his work in Zhejiang. Over more than 20 years, from “Thousand-Village Demonstration, Ten-Thousand-Village Renovation” to “Thousand-Village Excellence, Ten-Thousand-Village Beauty” and then to “Thousand-Village Future, Ten-Thousand-Village Common Prosperity,” it has created tens of thousands of beautiful villages, benefited tens of thousands of peasant masses, and forged a Zhejiang model and development foundation for the construction of nationally ecologically livable, workable, and harmonious beautiful villages and rural human settlement environment governance. A harmonious and livable rural human settlement environment is a major issue concerning the美好生活 (better life) of farmers. [n2] “To comprehensively build a modern socialist country, the most arduous and heaviest tasks still lie in the countryside.” Whether agriculture is strong, whether the countryside is beautiful, and whether farmers are prosperous determines the sense of gain and happiness of hundreds of millions of farmers, determines the quality of China’s comprehensive completion of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and determines the quality of comprehensively building a modern socialist country. Improving the rural human settlement environment and building beautiful, livable, and harmonious villages is the deep hope of the peasant masses, an important task and key lever for comprehensively advancing Chinese-path modernization and comprehensively promoting rural revitalization. It concerns the comprehensive completion of a moderately prosperous society in all respects and the comprehensive building of a modern socialist country; it concerns the people’s better life and public health; it concerns rural social civilization and harmony, common prosperity for farmers, and the construction of a beautiful China. From this, it is not difficult to see that the “Thousand-Village Demonstration, Ten-Thousand-Village Renovation” project, first launched in Zhejiang in 2003, opened the governance campaign to improve rural human settlement environments in China in the new century and New Era.

“千万工程”开启建设“生态宜居宜业和美乡村”。“千万工程”是习近平总书记在浙江工作时亲自谋划、亲自部署、亲自推动的一项重要决策。20多年来，从“千村示范、万村整治”到“千村精品、万村美丽”再到“千村未来、万村共富”，造就了万千美丽乡村，造福了万千农民群众，为全国生态宜居宜业和美乡村建设和农村人居环境治理打造出了浙江样本与发展基础。和美宜居的农村人居环境是关系农民美好生活的重大问题。“全面建设社会主义现代化国家，最艰巨最繁重的任务仍然在农村。”农业强不强、农村美不美、农民富不富，决定着亿万农民的获得感和幸福感，决定着我国全面建成小康社会的成色和全面建设社会主义现代化国家的质量。改善农村人居环境，建设美丽宜居和美乡村，是农民群众的深切期盼，是全面推进中国式现代化和全面推进乡村振兴的一项重要任务和重要抓手，事关全面建成小康社会、全面建设社会主义现代化国家，事关人民美好生活、群众健康，事关农村社会文明和谐、农民共同富裕和美丽中国建设。由此不难看出，2003年浙江率先开展的“千村示范、万村整治”工程掀开了新世纪新时代中国改善农村人居环境的治理行动。

The logic of “Thousand-Village Demonstration, Ten-Thousand-Village Renovation” human settlement environment governance and “Chinese-path modernization.” Chinese-path modernization is the modernization of a huge population, the modernization of common prosperity for all the people, the modernization of material civilization and cultural-ethical progress in harmony, the modernization of harmony between humanity and nature, and the modernization of taking the path of peaceful development. The Chinese characteristics of Chinese-path modernization indicate that advancing Chinese-path modernization requires realizing the people’s better life, building a beautiful China, building socialism, and realizing common prosperity for the people. These are both the essential issues of comprehensively building Chinese-path modernization and the logical issues of rural human settlement environment governance. Improving the rural human settlement environment is a key task in implementing the rural revitalization strategy and a practical requirement and task manifestation of building Chinese-path rural modernization. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, “For China to realize modernization, every aspect must become strong,” and the human settlement environment must also become strong. Implementing rural human settlement environment governance is the basic content and inherent requirement for “every aspect must become strong” in the process of comprehensively building Chinese-path modernization, such as “creating a better life for the people, building a beautiful China, building socialism, realizing common prosperity, and promoting rural revitalization.” It is the logical generation and practical development of realizing “Chinese-path human settlement environment modernization.”

“千万工程”人居环境治理与“中国式现代化”逻辑。中国式现代化是人口规模巨大的现代化，是全体人民共同富裕的现代化，是物质文明和精神文明相协调的现代化，是人与自然和谐共生的现代化，是走和平发展道路的现代化。中国式现代化的中国特色表明，推进中国式现代化要求实现人民美好生活、建设美丽中国、建设社会主义、实现人民共同富裕。这既是全面建设中国式现代化的本质问题，也是农村人居环境治理的问题逻辑。改善农村人居环境，是实施乡村振兴战略的重点任务，是建设中国式农村现代化的实践要求和任务展现。习近平总书记指出，“中国要实现现代化，方方面面都要强起来”，人居环境也必须强起来。实施农村人居环境治理，是全面建设中国式现代化进程中“创造人民美好生活、建设美丽中国、建设社会主义、实现共同富裕、推进乡村振兴”等“方方面面都要强起来”的基本内容和内在要求，是实现“中国式人居环境现代化”的逻辑生发和实践生展。

The “Thousand-Village Demonstration, Ten-Thousand-Village Renovation” project’s rural human settlement environment governance “targets absorb development.” Realizing the “Two Centenary Goals” [n3] of “comprehensively completing a moderately prosperous society in all respects and comprehensively building a modern socialist power,” solving the “three rural issues” (agriculture, rural areas, and farmers), and realizing the modernization of the “three rural issues” have always been the top priority. Guided by the “Two Centenary Goals” and oriented by the “three rural issues” and the integrated development of urban and rural areas, since the beginning of the new century, the Party and the state have conceived and constructed a progressively advancing policy goal system of “socialist new countryside, beautiful countryside, comprehensive rural revitalization, and comprehensive rural modernization.” Under the “dual absorption” of the “Two Centenary Goals” and the continuously progressive policy goals of “socialist new countryside construction, beautiful countryside construction, comprehensive rural revitalization, and comprehensive rural modernization,” rural human settlement environment governance has emerged and been explored, developed and implemented, deepened and advanced, and comprehensively elevated, continuously evolving forward. Specifically, the rural human settlement environment governance of the “Thousand-Village Demonstration, Ten-Thousand-Village Renovation” project in the new century has been mainly manifested through Party congress documents, the Central Document No. 1 addressing the “three rural issues,” and a series of policy documents issued by the Central Committee of the CPC, the State Council, and various ministries and commissions. [n4] According to the target themes of China’s development over the past 20-plus years, the strategies for solving the “three rural issues,” and the policy cluster for rural human settlement environment governance conceived by the Party and the state, the development of rural human settlement environment governance in the “Thousand-Village Demonstration, Ten-Thousand-Village Renovation” project is reflected in four development stages: the germination and exploration period of socialist new countryside construction, the development and implementation period of beautiful countryside construction, the deepening and advancement period of comprehensive rural revitalization, and the comprehensive elevation period of comprehensive rural modernization, progressing in ascending order.

“千万工程”的农村人居环境治理“目标吸纳发展”。实现“全面建成小康社会、全面建成社会主义现代化强国”“两个一百年”奋斗目标，解决“三农”问题、实现“三农”现代化始终是重中之重。以“两个一百年”奋斗目标为指引，以“三农”问题和城乡融合发展为导向，新世纪以来党和国家构生出梯次推进的“社会主义新农村、美丽乡村、全面乡村振兴、全面乡村现代化”的政策目标。农村人居环境治理在“两个一百年”奋斗目标和“社会主义新农村建设、美丽乡村建设、全面乡村振兴、全面建设乡村现代化”持续递进政策目标的“双重吸纳”下萌发探索、发展实施、深化推进和整体提升，持续向前演化发展。具体而言，“千万工程”的农村人居环境治理在新世纪主要通过党的会议文件，解决“三农”问题的中央一号文件，以及中共中央、国务院和各部委印发的一系列政策文件展现出来。根据20多年来中国发展的目标主题、“三农”问题的解决策略与党和国家构设的农村人居环境治理政策群，“千万工程”的农村人居环境治理发展以依次递升的社会主义新农村建设的萌发探索期、美丽乡村建设的发展实施期、全面乡村振兴的深化推进期、全面建设乡村现代化的整体提升期四个发展阶段映现出来。

The “Thousand-Village Demonstration, Ten-Thousand-Village Renovation” project’s rural human settlement environment governance “draws one blueprint to the end.” [n5] From the launch of the Zhejiang “Thousand-Village Demonstration, Ten-Thousand-Village Renovation” project in 2003, to the deepening of the “Thousand-Village Demonstration, Ten-Thousand-Village Renovation” project by the 2006 “Central Document No. 1,” which first proposed implementing rural human settlement environment governance; from the hard battle of the three-year action for rural human settlement environment improvement launched in 2018, to the formal implementation of the five-year action for rural human settlement environment improvement and upgrading in 2021, with the three-year action’s goals and tasks fully completed. After more than 20 years of implementation practice, promoted by 19 “Central Document No. 1” documents, special and specific documents, and other documents, and innovatively implemented across the country, the “four beams and eight pillars” [n6] of the rural human settlement environment improvement policy system have been fully erected, the dirty, messy, and poor situation in rural areas has been reversed, the quality of life of farmers has generally improved, and the action to improve the rural human settlement environment has entered a new stage. As a tough battle and a protracted war in the new century and New Era, rural human settlement environment governance has leaped from the “Zhejiang version” of “Thousand-Village Demonstration, Ten-Thousand-Village Renovation” to the “national version” of “improving the human settlement environment and building harmonious and beautiful villages.” It has achieved scientific planning as the guide, drawing one blueprint to the end, making persistent efforts, going all out, and promoting coordinated advancement, driving the continuous improvement of the rural human settlement environment, and turning the vast countryside into a land full of charm and hope.

“千万工程”的农村人居环境治理“一张蓝图绘到底”。从2003年浙江“千村示范、万村整治”工程启动，到2006年“中央一号文件”深化“千万工程”，首次提出实施农村人居环境治理；从2018年农村人居环境整治三年行动硬仗打响，再到2021年农村人居环境整治提升五年行动正式实施，三年行动目标任务全面完成。历经19个“中央一号文件”、专门专项文件以及其他文件部署推进和全国各地创新落地的20多年实施实践，农村人居环境整治政策体系的“四梁八柱”全面构起，农村脏乱差局面得到扭转，农民生活质量普遍提升，改善农村人居环境行动迈入了新阶段。新世纪新时代农村人居环境治理作为一场攻坚战、一场持久战，从“千村示范、万村整治”的“浙江版”跃升为“改善人居环境、建设和美乡村”的“全国版”，实现了以科学规划为先导，一张蓝图绘到底，久久为功、全力以赴、统筹推进，推动了农村人居环境持续改善，让广大乡村成为了充满魅力和希望的一方水土。

The rural human settlement governance of the “Ten-Thousand-Village Project” (千万工程) exhibits the characteristic of “co-governance.” Over more than 20 years, rural human settlement governance has forged a path of human settlement governance with Chinese characteristics, forming the feature of “Party-led co-governance” with Chinese characteristics and the stamp of the times: first, the governance at the regional level combines top-down and bottom-up linked governance; second, the governance subjects are diverse, varied, and multi-party, engaging in co-construction, co-governance, and shared benefits through collaborative governance; third, the governance content elements are classified and governed by domain. This has formed five major governance types advanced in echelons and with concerted effort: toilet sanitation governance, domestic waste governance, domestic sewage governance, village planning governance, and village appearance improvement governance. Fourth, the governance principles and experiences include people’s governance, green governance, co-governance, collaborative governance, classified governance, systematic governance, planned governance, and target-oriented governance. These unique governance features are not only the basic laws of China’s “three rural issues” (三农) governance over more than 20 years but also important advantages of China’s governance. The Party Central Committee designs and plans at the top level; the five secretaries at the provincial, municipal, county, township, and village levels personally take command to lead the rural human settlement improvement. In particular, the earliest exploration and trailblazing in rural human settlement governance, Zhejiang’s “Ten-Thousand-Village Project,” was initiated and launched in 2003 by Xi Jinping, then Secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee. Subsequently, General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly issued instructions recommending its study nationwide, while also attaching great importance to national rural human settlement governance, delivering multiple speeches and directives to guide and direct it. This political momentum of high-level planning, high-level promotion, and high-efficiency implementation has driven the rapid rollout of rural human settlement governance nationwide. At the same time, governments at all levels have actively acted, effectively exerting their policy execution capacity, resource integration capacity, service supply capacity, and development driving capacity in rural human settlement governance, pooling strength, increasing investment, and promoting development. The convergence of forces from “the Party, government, society, enterprises, and the masses” has propelled the multi-directional, multi-dimensional, multi-element, and multi-form development of rural human settlement governance.

“千万工程”的农村人居环境治理呈现“共治”特征。20多年来，农村人居环境治理走出一条中国特色社会主义人居环境治理之路，形成具有中国特色、时代特点的“党领共治”特征：一是治理区域层级的自上而下和自下而上相结合的联动治理；二是治理主体力量多元、多样、多方共建共治共享的协同治理；三是治理内容要素的分类分域治理。形成了梯次推进和齐力共进的厕所卫生治理、生活垃圾治理、生活污水治理、村庄规划治理、村容村貌提升治理的五大治理类型；四是治理原则经验的人民治理、绿色治理，共同治理、协同治理，分类治理、系统治理，规划治理、目标治理。这些独特治理特征，既是中国20多年来“三农”治理的基本规律，也是中国治理的重要优势。党中央顶层设计谋划，省市县乡镇村五大书记亲自挂帅领导农村人居环境整治，尤其是最早探索探路农村人居环境治理的浙江“千万工程”就是由时任浙江省委书记的习近平于2003年谋构开启，之后习近平总书记多次批示向全国推荐学习，同时更是高度重视全国农村人居环境治理并多次发表讲话、做出指示，指引指导农村人居环境治理。这种高层谋划、高位推动、高效实施的政治势能，推动了全国农村人居环境治理的迅速展开。与此同时，各级政府积极作为，有效发挥在农村人居环境治理的政策执行力、资源整合力、服务供给力、发展推动力，凝聚力量、加大投入、推动发展。“党、政、社、企、群”力量聚合，推动了农村人居环境治理多向度、多维度、多要素、多样态发展。

With new tasks in the new century and a new mission on a new journey, rural human settlement governance based on the “Ten-Thousand-Village Project,” as a beautiful ecological project, a project for people’s well-being and happiness, a project for popular sentiment and justice, and a project for civilization and harmony in realizing Chinese-path modernization and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation in the new century and New Era, is a major decision made by the Party and the state from a strategic and overall perspective to improve the rural human settlement in the process of Chinese-path modernization, and a major action to build ecologically livable, business-friendly, and beautiful villages. This is done by adhering to the coordination of domestic and global perspectives, unifying problem orientation and goal orientation, linking medium- and long-term goals with short-term goals, coordinating comprehensive planning with key priorities, focusing on prominent issues and obvious shortcomings, and responding to the demands and expectations of the people. Over more than 20 years, the “Ten-Thousand-Village Project” has been steadily advanced in stages, by type, by region, and according to circumstances, achieving phased accomplishments and historic victories, improving farmers’ lives, advancing common prosperity, and laying a solid foundation for completing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects and realizing the First Centenary Goal. Today, more than 20 years later, the goal of comprehensively revitalizing the countryside has been drawn up, but glory still needs to be created. On the new journey, we must, as always and consistently, go all out to advance the chapter of rural human settlement governance, laying a more solid foundation of harmony and beauty for comprehensively building a great modern socialist country.

新世纪新任务、新使命新征程，以“千万工程”为基底的农村人居环境治理，作为新世纪新时代实现中国式现代化和中华民族伟大复兴的美丽生态工程、民生幸福工程、民心正义工程和文明和美工程，是党和国家坚持立足国内和全球视野相统筹，坚持问题导向和目标导向相统一，坚持中长期目标和短期目标相贯通，坚持全面规划和突出重点相协调，聚焦突出问题和明显短板，回应人民群众诉求和期盼，从战略和全局高度作出的在中国式现代化进程中改善农村人居环境的重大决策、建设生态宜居宜业和美乡村的重大行动。20多年来，“千万工程”分阶段、分类型、分地域、分情况持续推进，取得了阶段性成就和历史性胜利，提升了农民生活，推进了共同富裕，为全面建成小康社会、实现第一个百年奋斗目标夯就了坚实基础。20多年后的今天，实现全面乡村振兴的目标已经绘就，辉煌还需创造。在新征程上，必须一如既往、一以贯之地全力推进建设农村人居环境治理篇章，为全面建成社会主义现代化强国奠就更加坚实的和美基础。

(The author is an associate professor at the School of Marxism, Wuyi University)

（作者系五邑大学马克思主义学院副教授）

Online editor: Huihui

网络编辑：慧慧