In order to promote the development of the Agroforestry and Medicine majors, deepen reforms of education, and enhance research skills, the sub-committee for Agroforestry and Medicine of the Academic Committee of the Open University of China (OUC) held a forum on "Local Rural-revitalisation Practices and Thinking" on 23 November 2021.

Zhao Xingquan, member of the Rural Revitalisation Expert Advisory Committee, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and the Rural Affairs Leading Group of the CPC Central Committee, and Liu Weiguo, executive president of the Hainan Association for the Promotion of Rural Revitalisation, were invited to give reports. All members of the sub-committee, all teachers in the Faculty of Agroforestry and Medicine at the OUC headquarters, and teachers and students from some OUC branches participated online.

Based on precedent in Zhejiang Province, Zhao Xingquan explained how rural revitalisation can be promoted via ecological agriculture, industry and tourism, promoting the common prosperity of farmers along with their rights and interests, and the integration and development of cities and rural areas. Liu Weiguo introduced the future of rural revitalisation in Hainan in relation to the construction of a free-trade port in terms of clarifying development directions, planning new tasks, building new patterns, ameliorating new shortcomings, and undertaking sound "experiments" and overall planning.

The forum touched on both theory and practices related to rural revitalisation and the alleviation of poverty through education, receiving enthusiastic responses from teachers and students.

By Cao Qinzheng, OUC