A short while ago, the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Finance announced the list of counties selected to construct rural talent revitalization zones integrating the "four chains" development. Twelve counties (cities, districts), including Pinghu and Xianju, were selected, with each area eligible for funding of up to 50 million yuan ($6.85 million). 

In the future, with financial support, efforts will focus on tasks including building a rural entrepreneurship and wealth-creation platform, implementing a series of integrated innovation projects, and establishing a mechanism to link, support, and benefit farmers. Over three years, the initiative aims to enhance the competitiveness of rural industries, attract innovative talent, and promote the development of modern agriculture.

Zhejiang rural landscape [Photo provided to ZICC]

Promoting the integration of the "four chains" involves leveraging project implementation as a key vehicle. For the talent chain, the focus should be on attracting and nurturing modern "new farmers". On the industry chain, the priority is to support the development of locally advantageous rural industries. The innovation chain should harness technological empowerment, while the funding chain must establish a diversified investment framework for rural revitalization. These efforts aim to optimize the allocation of high-quality resources—such as talent, industries, technology, and funding—to drive sustainable rural revitalization.

Zhejiang rural landscape [Photo provided to ZICC]

The selected counties (cities, districts) in this round have relatively strong industrial development and infrastructure conditions. For instance, the Tonglu cluster zone currently hosts 560 modern "new farmers", 30 agricultural brand bases, and its agricultural full-industry chain output value of 1.2 billion yuan. 

A relevant official from the Agricultural Division of the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Finance announced that rural revitalization requires more "new farmers". The construction of these clusters can, on the one hand, explore and solve the key and difficult problems existing in the cultivation and retention of modern "new farmers". On the other hand, the leverage of financial funds can be brought into it, aiming for each cluster zone to achieve an effective investment scale of over 100 million yuan in agriculture and rural areas during the construction period.

A harvest scene in rural Zhejiang province [Photo provided to ZICC]

With the leverage of financial funding, rural development has gained greater momentum. The planning for the Pinghu cluster zone indicates that they will focus on enhancing and extending industrial chains through strategies such as business-to-business investment, investment expansion, fund-driven promotion, project-based investment, and industry chain-focused investment. These efforts aim to advance the construction of rural entrepreneurship and wealth-creation platforms, such as the second phase of the Guangchen Agricultural Innovation Park. Additionally, it seeks to establish a high-quality agricultural innovation park that covers the entire industry chain for local specialties, such as vegetables. By 2027, the plan is to attract and cultivate more than five leading enterprises in the agricultural sector.

Editor Cheng Dengyu, Intern Zhou Xujie