Despite the progress that has been made in the countryside in recent years, the rural environment remains disorderedly and unbalanced and it falls far short of people's expectations.

So improving the rural living environment is an important task for the country to accomplish its goal of building a moderately prosperous society by 2020, and is of great significance to the well-being of farmers and the harmony of rural areas.
To improve the rural living environment, the central authorities have released a three-year action plan.

According to the plan, the village environment should be basically clean and orderly by 2020, and villagers' awareness of environmental protection should have been greatly enhanced.

The document requires villages in eastern China and the developed rural areas in the central and western parts of the country fully implement the action plan. In the less developed rural regions in western China, garbage sorting should be implemented in about 90 percent of villages, and 85 percent of rural toilets should meet hygiene standards. Random domestic sewage discharge should be well managed, and rural roads should be remarkably improved.

The central authorities and local governments are to increase their fiscal inputs in the rural areas, and private companies are encouraged to participate through public-private partnerships and franchised businesses.