Lou Ganqiang, a village leader from Lishui, speaks at the 17th ASEAN-China Forum on Social Development and Poverty Reduction. [Photo/Lishui Daily]

Lou Ganqiang, a village leader from Lishui city in East China's Zhejiang province, spoke of his village's inspiring story of rural development at the 17th ASEAN-China Forum on Social Development and Poverty Reduction on June 27.

The forum, which was held in Beihai in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, saw village leaders from China and 10 ASEAN countries exchange views and experiences on social development and poverty reduction.

During the event, Lou, the Party secretary of Lianfeng village in Jinyun county, recounted how Zhejiang's Green Rural Revival Program had resulted in the village's remarkable transformation within just six years.

According to Lou, the village's collective income was in the red before the program was implemented. Thanks to the program, the income grew to 1.58 million yuan ($218,395).

Wang Huaiyu, a professor from Beijing Institute of Technology and the host of a seminar on ecology protection and poverty reduction at the forum, hailed Lianfeng village as a shining example of the positive effects of Zhejiang's rural vitalization strategy.

Lou's speech also piqued the interest of several ASEAN village leaders, who said they are interested in visiting the village and learning from its experiences.