“A Youth-Powered Rural Revival in China: Can Bangladesh Follow the Strategy?” was thoughtfully and informatively analyzed by Prof. Dr. Md. Wakilur Rahman of Bangladesh Agricultural University and Wazifatut Tiyebah, a student of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology.
According to them – China rose to become one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, a gap quietly widened between its urban and rural regions. To tackle this persistent imbalance—exacerbated by rapid urbanization and steady drift of people toward cities, the Chinese government introduced the “Rural Revitalization Strategy-2017”, closely tied to its 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is a grand blueprint of agriculture, rural areas and farmers in the new era.
What’s particularly impressive is how China, through this strategy, has mitigated rural depopulation while bringing “young talent” back to the country-side.
Statistics indicate that between 2000 and 2020, China’s rural population declined by more than 25%, reflecting sustained rural-to-urban outmigration (Liu et al., 2021). At the same time, China recorded nearly 290 million migrant workers in urban areas, the majority of whom were young, underscoring the substantial loss of rural labor.
Since the strategy’s introduction in 2017, this trajectory has partially reversed. By early 2025, more than 12 million individuals had returned to rural areas with each enterprise generating an average of 6–7 jobs, demonstrating strong local multiplier effects. They identify themselves as “new farmers” and “farmer-entrepreneurs”. This group has injected new vitality into rural development and accumulated wealth of referable and replicable experience for the modernization of agriculture. The returnee entrepreneurs emerged a youth-led rural development agent as outcome of “Rural Revitalization Strategy”.
As tradition, China does “pilot first then promote” to maximize the outcome from any model. Similarly, rural revitalization strategy was initiated and expanded based on few successful programs. Few of them are listed here:
College Graduate Village Officials (CGVO): This program recruits university graduates to serve in village-level administrative roles, aiming to strengthen grassroots governance and support rural development. Initially piloted in provinces such as Jiangsu in the mid-2000s and later expanded nationwide, these officials work under village party organizations and township governments. Their responsibilities include policy implementation, poverty alleviation, community services, agricultural advancement and promotion of local economic activities.
Taobao Village: A village is designated as a Taobao village if at least 10% of its households engage in online retail or a minimum of 100 online shops, actively operate on Taobao with an annual turnover exceeding RMB 10 million. Emerging in the late 2000s—particularly in pioneering areas such as Dongfeng Village in Shaji Town, Jiangsu Province—these villages developed around the Taobao platform, enabling rural residents to participate directly in digital markets. While some participants are farmers selling agricultural products, many specialize in light manufacturing, handicrafts, or processed goods, effectively transforming segments of the rural population into digital entrepreneurs. By around 2022, the number of Taobao villages had grown to over 7,700.
Digital Nomad Villages: While the lavish lifestyle of cities sparks the interests of young generation, the rural regions seem lifeless and mundane. That is why many feel repulsion to migrate to villages. “Digital Nomad Villages” serve a great benefit in this manner. It refers to economical, community-oriented spaces that attract mobile, digitally enabled workers and entrepreneurs to rural areas. With high-speed internet access and attractive natural sights, these villages work as innovation hubs – promoting digital agriculture, e-commerce and eco-tourism.
Guizhou’s Digital Leap: In Guizhou, the “leapfrog” strategy is reshaping agriculture by blending traditional farming with big data, IoT and e-commerce. Farmers are gradually using digital tools to track crops and sell products directly through online platforms. In pilot areas like the Guizhou Big Data Zone and Gui’an New Area, improved infrastructure and digital jobs are attracting young entrepreneurs back to villages, where they engage in agri-tech, livestream sales and cooperative farming, boosting incomes and local development sustainably.
Heilongjiang Agricultural Base: Heilongjiang stands as China’s most strategic agricultural base, where favorable geography and weather enable highly efficient, industrialized farming. Heilongjiang Agricultural base produced over 80 million tons of grain in 2025 that plays a central role in ensuring food security. The exceptional case is its integration of near-total mechanization, high-standard farmland and advanced technologies like precision agriculture and smart machinery. Supported by powerful state-backed farm systems and market-oriented models such as contract farming, Heilongjiang seamlessly links production with demand while expanding into organic and high-quality food sectors. Beyond output, it drives rural revitalization by generating modern agricultural jobs, attracting young entrepreneurs and transforming villages into dynamic hubs of agribusiness and innovation.
With many more examples to name, China’s Rural Revitalization Strategy reflects a long-term transition from poverty alleviation to sustainable rural transformation, designed to ensure that development remains stable and communities do not fall back into poverty. For Bangladesh, a country where rural livelihoods and agriculture remain central to the economy, this model offers valuable lessons.
In Bangladesh, an estimation shows that about 20% youth are unemployed in which 13.54 percent are graduates. It is very difficult to provide employment opportunities for them in the existing framework. The growing concentration of services, employment, and opportunities in the cities encourage youth to migrate. The main drivers behind this demographic shift, along with the declining interest of youth in village life, can largely be grouped into three areas: underdeveloped infrastructure, poor living standards, and an identity crisis associated with rural life. In this context, China’s Rural Revitalization Strategy has emerged as a compelling model for addressing these challenges.
The strategy seeks to achieve common prosperity by strengthening both rural communities and the national economy. It places strong emphasis on poverty reduction, support for entrepreneurial start-ups, agricultural modernization, access to advanced technology, promotion of rural tourism, stronger grassroots governance, and administrative reform. Expanding rural infrastructure, developing agro-based industries, and fostering digital and entrepreneurial ecosystems in villages can create attractive livelihood opportunities for young people. Ultimately, youth-centered rural development should be recognized as a core pathway to inclusive, balanced, and long-term national growth. By investing in rural infrastructure, modern agriculture, entrepreneurship, and youth-focused opportunities, Bangladesh can reduce unemployment, reduce pressure on cities, and build a more resilient and sustainable economy.