BEIJING – China's State Council Information Office on Friday released a white paper titled "China's Rural Roads in the New Era" to introduce the achievements and vision of rural road development in the new era and to share China's experience.

The total length of rural roads reached 4.6 million km by the end of 2023, an increase of 21.7 percent over 2013, enough to circle the equator 115 times, the white paper said.

So far, the country has put in place a rural transport infrastructure network in which county roads connect rural and urban areas, township roads crisscross, and village roads facilitate travel between households and farmland, it said.

According to the white paper, the construction and development of rural roads provides strong support for the comprehensive development of the rural economy and society in China.

In creating a path to prosperity for rural people, China has taken extraordinary steps and made an enormous effort to expedite the development of rural transport in poor areas, it said.

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Since 2014, more than 1.4 million km of rural roads have been built or upgraded in previously poor areas, all towns, townships and administrative villages where conditions allow had been connected to paved roads by 2019, and all such villages had been connected to bus services by 2020, the white paper noted.

Better transport has cleared bottlenecks that had long delayed economic and social development in poor areas, and has laid a solid foundation for rural people to realize moderate prosperity in all respects, it said.

According to the white paper, the steady development of transport facilities in rural areas has attracted more capital, projects and talent to the countryside, creating more job opportunities and broadening the avenues for income growth.

At present, rural road construction projects provide work for about 80,000 people in need as a form of relief, enabling an annual average per capita income increase of around 8,500 yuan (about $1,182.57), said the white paper.

About 850,000 jobs are provided in rural road management and maintenance, offering an annual average per capita income of approximately 13,000 yuan, it said.

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In advancing rural revitalization across the board, the government continues to integrate rural roads into the overall economic development of rural areas, by supporting modernization of rural industries, boosting rural tourism and making efficient use of distinctive resources in rural areas, according to the white paper.

The rural road development also helps create a beautiful and harmonious countryside by allowing the extension of basic public services to the rural areas and accelerating urban-rural exchanges and integration, the white paper noted.

China has shared its development experience and helped construct rural road infrastructure in other developing countries over the years, contributing substantially to poverty reduction, people's wellbeing, and sustainable global development, the white paper noted.

Since 2018, China has supported 24 developing countries including Cambodia, Serbia, Rwanda, Namibia, Vanuatu and Niger in highway and bridge construction and maintenance, helping them improve transport infrastructure, according to the white paper.