A tranquil and appealing boutique homestay in Lishui city. [Photo/WeChat account: ls-mnews]

The first batch of the Zhe Yun Qian Su project development list in East China's Zhejiang province – which focuses on cultivating local homestays – was recently announced.

Some 153 homestays in Lishui city were on the list, ranking it first in the province in terms of quantity.

As Zhejiang province pushes to build hotels and homestay brands, the Zhe Yun Qian Su program aims to select 1,000 homestays that have the strong rural characteristics and quaint cultural charms of Zhejiang.

Since 2018, Lishui has developed homestay standards and allocated 10 million yuan ($1.46 million) in special funds each year to cultivate the industry, bringing in homestay brand merchants and operators. As a result, many young people have become homestay managers.

Last year, Lishui started to establish a homestay wealth-sharing circle – supporting new business models such as "village companies + investors + operators + farmers" to strengthen their collective economic growth.

The city has attracted top companies – including Ctrip – and enlisted companies to invest in Lishui, encouraging homestays to prioritize the employment of local residents. Currently, homestays in the city have helped 2,299 paired farming households and employed more than 26,000 people.