Rural vitalization has been one of China's most important policies for eradicating extreme poverty. CGTN's Gao Ang visited a village in east China's Anhui Province, where a secret agreement in 1978 set off a nationwide series of agricultural reforms.

WANG RUXIA Villager, Xiaogang Village "I just worry about not having grapes. I don't worry about sales."

Wang Ruxia has a vineyard in Xiaogang Village in east China's Anhui Province. It's about one and a half acres large.

Wang is more than 50 years old, but she takes care of the vineyard on her own, working from dawn to dusk.

WANG RUXIA Villager, Xiaogang Village "Ten years ago, the revenue was two to three thousand yuan per mu. Now, if it goes well, I could earn about ten thousand yuan."

Wang's daughter Wu Jing, who works as a museum tour guide, has also witnessed the change.

WU JING Wang Ruxia's Daughter "Although I was born after 1990s, I have experienced that era. Our family was very poor back then. By 2004, the village had already started to develop and has changed a lot since then."

The reason behind the changes is reform.

The village started developing modern agriculture and tourism in 2004.

In five years, the villagers' annual income was doubled, higher than the average income of farmers in Anhui.

WU JING Wang Ruxia's Daughter "President Xi came to Xiaogang Village and emphasized the importance of reforms, saying there should always be new reforms."

Reforms in Xiaogang go back to 1978 when 18 farmers made a secret pact to contract land to each household.

Villagers only needed to hand a certain percentage of produce to the government and keep the rest of the harvest.

YAN JINCHANG Villager, Xiaogang Village "No one would have thought that signing a contract and pressing a handprint, would create a new path for hundreds of millions of Chinese farmers, and kickstart rural reforms."

Yan Jinchang was one of the 18 farmers who signed the contract. Now, he owns a restaurant and helps manage a pomegranate garden.

And he's seeing more changes.

In 2017, Xiaogang Village started a share-holding scheme of collective assets to boost rural economy and increase farmers' income.

In 2020, every farmer received 600 yuan, or over 90 USD as a bonus.