Sci-tech expert Su Hailan shows the growing roots of plant at a laboratory of the Fujian Academy of Agricultural Sciences in southeast China's Fujian Province, May 29, 2021. China's mechanism of sending sci-tech experts to rural areas aims to popularize agricultural science and technology, spearhead sci-tech innovation and entrepreneurship there, and help lead villages out of poverty and promote rural vitalization. The practice was initiated in 1999 when the local government in the city of Nanping, Fujian, sought to upgrade its unproductive rural economy. The measure was promoted nationwide in 2009 and has gained bigger institutional support from the central authorities since 2012. China has sent nearly 300,000 sci-tech experts to rural areas in poverty alleviation efforts since 2012, according to the Ministry of Science and Technology. The country has made rural vitalization a priority to promote growth in the countryside over the next five years. Initiatives in science and technology are being introduced in rural areas to promote modern agriculture. (Xinhua/Lin Shanchuan)
