A view of Yuanjiacun in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province Photo: Courtesy of Xianyang Rural Revitalization Administration

On the Guanzhong Plain in Northwest China, a small village of only 62 villagers has become a household name in the country, receiving millions of visitors each year and generating nearly 1 billion yuan ($140.3 million) in tourism revenue alone. This small village is called Yuanjiacun, located in Xianyang, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, and boasts of highly integrated primary, secondary, and tertiary industries.

Unlike the traditional path of developing tertiary industries driven by primary and secondary industries, Yuanjiacun first shored up the service sector, which has driven the deep processing of agricultural products and pushed its agricultural industry to improve quality and efficiency, creating a high-quality model of integrated development of rural industries.

Thriving tourism

Cold noodles, Chinese hamburgers, fried dough twists, balsamic vinegar and yogurt…A number of Guanzhong delicacies in Yuanjiacun have attracted visitors from all over China.

Kangzhuang Street is the first folklore food street in the village. The street has presented some of the Guanzhong region's traditional crafts including spun cloth, ground noodles as well as vinegar making, gathering nearly 100 kinds of Shaanxi specialties. 

The street has strict conditions for operators, such as no duplication of products among stores. In addition, all stalls should sell freshly cooked foods with the production process being displayed to visitors. 

In order to better attract travelers, the village began a rural tourism transformation, building an inn area, and art and fashion streets.

At present, a small village of more than 60 villagers has transformed into a tourist town with more than 3,000 operators. 

Meanwhile, Yuanjiacun exports its management and development model to other places, helping said areas to create their own local tourism projects to achieve high-quality rural development. 

To date, Yuanjiacun-model projects have been completed and launched in Xinzhou, North China's Shanxi Province, Tongmeng, Central China's Henan Province, and Hehuang in Northwest China's Qinghai Province.

Driving effects

A yellow ox draws a chilli pepper milling stone, the product of which will be infused into canola oil. 

This is the typical scene of the production of the village's chilli oil. After visitors have had their fill at the site, they either buy the chilli oil on the spot, or place an order at the online store.

In order to address supply shortages, the villagers established processing plants to expand production scale, and set up a raw material base, so that the village's chilli oil brand is better known nationwide, with sales of tens of millions of yuan annually.

At present, Yuanjiacun has collectively formed more than 10 agricultural and byproducts processing cooperatives and opened eight processing enterprises for products such as rapeseed oil, tofu, mash, and yogurt, empowering villagers in matters of business and augmenting their income. 

The processing of agricultural products and byproducts has created many famous food brands, which has reinforced local tourism industry growth.

The huge volume of visitors requires Yuanjiacun to ensure and maintain the highest standards of food safety by constantly focusing on production process, in addition to ensuring high quality of all raw materials.
 
The village has built dozens of bases for canola, corn, soybeans, sweet potatoes, and other high-quality agricultural products in surrounding villages. And the strict standards have forced the bases to continuously improve their planting methods as well as further enhance the quality of production.

The huge number of visitors makes the village both a scenic spot and a marketplace, becoming a showcase window for agricultural products in Shaanxi Province for products including dried bacon, dried bean curd, and wild spring bamboo shoots.

The Yuanjiancun development model is just a representation of China's modern development of rural industries. 

According to the report on the implementation of the 2022 plan for national economic and social development and on the 2023 draft plan for national economic and social development, which was approved at the first session of the 14th National People's Congress on March 5, 2023, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said that it will promote the integrated development of primary, secondary, and tertiary industries in rural areas.

The NDRC will develop new rural collective economies, new types of agribusinesses and commercial agricultural services, and constantly scaled up agricultural operations.
 
To put in place a better rural industrial system and create more channels to increase rural incomes, it will redouble efforts to foster rural industries with local features and ensure the efficient establishment and certification of "agricultural modernization demonstration zones", national demonstration parks for rural industrial integration, clusters of industries with unique advantages, national modern agro-industrial parks, and towns with strong agro-industries.