Digital technologies help improve rural living environment

Digital management has been employed by local governments in China to improve rural living environment and build a green countryside over the recent years.

An urban management officer in Suyu district, Suqian, east China’s Jiangsu province drives a garbage disposal vehicle to the township where he works, Oct. 27, 2021. (People’s Daily Online/Sun Dongcheng)

Guizhou province in southwest China is home to a considerable number of mountainous villages. The disposal of domestic waste in the province’s rural areas is quite challenging as waste storage facilities are scattered far away from each other.

Liu Ping, a garbage truck driver in Liuzhi special region, Liupanshui of Guizhou, is responsible for the transportation of domestic waste at over 30 local waste storage facilities.

Thanks to the application of digital management methods, the man is quite confident in making efficient work plans despite the huge workload.

Checking the latest updates of these waste storage facilities on a mobile application on his smart phone is the first thing on his work routine every day. Every time he sees a warning sign on the screen, he would drive to the spot according to the recommended route planned by the application.

“The digital terminal has largely improved the efficiency of garbage disposal,” he said.

To improve rural living environment and build a countryside that is beautiful and pleasant to live in is an important task in pushing forward all-round rural vitalization.

China has further enhanced its efforts to make the countryside better since a three-year rural living environment upgrade campaign was launched in 2018.

In 2020, the usage rate of rural sanitary toilets in the country grew to over 68 percent, and over 90 percent of administrative villages had domestic waste disposal facilities. In addition, sanitation campaigns were launched in more than 95 percent of the country’s villages.

As a result, the countryside has become beautiful and the rural living environment has been largely improved.

Village cadres clear garbage in a river on a patrol mission in Huangjin village, Lvdongshan township, Baojing county, Xiangxi Tujia and Miao autonomous prefecture, central China’s Hunan province, Aug. 31, 2021. (People’s Daily Online/Li Jian)

To improve rural living environment calls for upgrading of infrastructure, as well as upswings in intelligent and digital “software.” Digital technologies and information platforms are a strong force driving the improvement of rural living environment.

In January this year, China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and nine other departments jointly issued an action plan to advance the construction of digital countryside between 2022 and 2025, which proposes to build intelligent and green villages, and improve rural living environment governance through digital applications.

Today, virtual reality-enabled glasses are helping with patrol missions along rural rivers, and big data technology can generate transportation routes for domestic waste to be disposed of. Besides, digital management methods are also monitoring and controlling water supply facilities to ensure water safety.

Enhancing information connectivity between the user and management ends through the internet, mobile applications, QR codes and other digital methods, China will achieve further progress in improving rural living environment and ecological protection.