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The recurring revenue of all villages in Jiaxing, East China's Zhejiang province, totals more than one million yuan ($143,000) in 2019. [Photo/cnjxol.com]

The recurring revenue of all villages in Jiaxing, East China's Zhejiang province, totaled more than one million yuan ($143,000) in 2019, according to the Jiaxing Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

The figure makes Jiaxing the first city in Zhejiang with all its villages generating more than one million yuan in recurring revenue per year.

The concept of recurring revenue was proposed by the Jiaxing government in 2012. It includes net operating income, income from investment, and government subsidies and excludes various temporary incomes.

The situation of Jiaxing's rural economy was completely different 10 years ago: one third of villagers were well off, one third lived from hand to mouth, and one third were too poor to eat properly.

In 2009, the local municipal Party committee and government took measures to support the development of the rural economy with capital and land and help poverty-stricken villages develop and modernize.

The definition of a "poverty-stricken village" in Jiaxing also changed from a gross annual income of 300,000 yuan in 2009 to a recurring revenue of 300,000 yuan in 2012 and 500,000 yuan in 2016.

Jiaxing also created a brand new development model for rural areas known as "enclaved development", meaning poverty-stricken villages reserve collectively-owned construction land for industrial parks and may obtain fixed dividends every year.

By the end of 2019, Jiaxing had launched 101 "enclaved development" projects involving 1,309 villages, producing an annual yield rate of eight to 12 percent.

In addition, Jiaxing villages have also been exploring the tourism and e-commerce industries. For example, Beihe village constructed a Peach Blossom Island scenic spot on a 10,000-mu (666.67 hectares) plot of land filled with yellow peach trees last year, which earned the village 300,000 yuan in ticket sales alone.

In 2019, the per capita income of rural residents in Jiaxing jumped 9.1 percent year-on-year to 37,413 yuan, leading the province for the 16th year in a row, and the income ratio between urban and rural residents reduced from 1.68 in 2018 to 1.66, the lowest in Zhejiang.