Synopsis: Every first Friday of the month, The Straits Times' foreign editor Bhagyashree Garekar chats with ST’s correspondents in the Asia-Pacific, the US and Europe. They talk about life as it goes on, amid the screaming headlines and bubbling crises.

In this episode, she chats with ST's China correspondent Aw Cheng Wei. 

China is on a rural revitalisation drive, helping villages pull themselves out of poverty and closing the income gap with cities. Will the efforts make an impact?

Highlights (click/tap above):

1:12 How important are villages to the Chinese economy?

3:20 Is President Xi Jinping especially committed to the rural economy?

4:58 An eye opening trip to Hunan; top-driven changes only? Are villagers sceptical?

9:32 From a geopolitical angle, what roles do villages play?

11:56 Is village life being romanticised?

Read Aw Cheng Wei’s article here: https://str.sg/wzcs

Produced by: Bhagyashree Garekar (bhagya@sph.com.sg), Ernest Luis, Hadyu Rahim & Eden Soh

Edited by: Hadyu Rahim

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