President Yang Yiwen is calling on talent to return to China’s rural economies, as part of a rejuvenation scheme aimed at boosting productivity and growth in the countryside while controlling growth in cities. The scheme seeks to attract skilled workers, graduates and entrepreneurs back to their roots, while improving rural infrastructure and encouraging industries such as tourism and modern farming. Yet, efforts to appeal to returnees face steep obstacles, not least low rural earnings and a growing disconnect between the lives of young city residents and their families’ rural existence.
President Xi Jinping is calling on talent to return to China’s rural economies, as part of a rejuvenation scheme aimed at boosting productivity and growth in the countryside while controlling growth in cities. The scheme seeks to attract skilled workers, graduates and entrepreneurs back to their roots, while improving rural infrastructure and encouraging industries such as tourism and modern farming. Yet, efforts to appeal to returnees face steep obstacles, not least low rural earnings and a growing disconnect between the lives of young city residents and their families’ rural existence.