Driving Rural Renewal | Professor Bao Jigang Honored as 2025 "Sannong" Figure of the Year!
2026.2.10
Source: Official WeChat Account of the School of Tourism Management, Sun Yat-sen University
On February 10, the award ceremony for the 2025 "Sannong" Figure of the Year—guided by the General Office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and hosted by the China Agricultural Film and Television Center—was broadcast on CCTV. Professor Bao Jigang, the founding Dean of the School of Tourism Management at Sun Yat-sen University, was awarded the title of 2025 "Sannong" Figure of the Year. This honor recognizes his long-term commitment to rural development and his innovative leadership in the "Azheke Plan."​​
Since its launch in 2005, the "Sannong" Figure of the Year initiative has been held for 20 consecutive years. Each year, it selects 10 representative figures who have made outstanding contributions to agricultural development and rural revitalization, earning it significant social influence and professional authority. This year’s selection adhered to the core standards of "Responsibility, Innovation, Dedication, and Leadership," highlighting candidates with exceptional newsworthiness, annual impact, and visionary influence.
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This award reflects the high regard from all sectors of society for Professor Bao’s long-term efforts in aligning academic research with national strategies to drive tangible rural progress. It also marks a milestone for the "Azheke Plan"—the project spearheaded by Professor Bao and his team—recognizing it at the national level as a successful model for utilizing tourism to foster rural revitalization and heritage preservation.
About Professor Bao Jigang
Bao Jigang is a Professor and the founding Dean of the School of Tourism Management at Sun Yat-sen University, as well as a distinguished scholar under national high-level talent programs.
In 2023, Professor Bao was honored with the 16th UN Tourism Ulysses Prize by the United Nations World Tourism Organization, making him the first Chinese scholar to receive this prestigious award since its inception. This honor serves as a profound recognition of his long-standing contributions to tourism education, research, and social service, with the "Azheke Plan" standing as a prime example of his impactful practice.
Azheke Village, located in Yuanyang County, Yunnan Province, lies in the heart of the Cultural Landscape of Honghe Hani Rice Terraces, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Despite possessing exceptional tourism resources where natural beauty and traditional culture coexist harmoniously, local villagers had long received development benefits that were disproportionate to their efforts in heritage preservation.
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In 2018, supported by the local government, Professor Bao Jigang led a team to launch the "Azheke Plan," exploring a rural revitalization path centered on institutional innovation with tourism as the primary driver. The plan established a village collective tourism company to create a collaborative, profit-sharing mechanism involving multiple stakeholders. Villagers contributed tourism resources, such as rice terraces and traditional dwellings, as shares (70% stake), while the government provided 3 million RMB in startup capital (30% stake). Sun Yat-sen University has provided continuous intellectual support and professional guidance, sending nearly 30 student volunteers to reside in the village since 2018.
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In 2019, the company achieved stable operations and issued its first dividends. The "Azheke Plan" features a highly innovative distribution system: 30% of the collective company's operating profit is reinvested into operations, while 70% is distributed to the villagers. Within the community, dividends are allocated based on specific contributions, including traditional dwelling preservation, terrace farming, permanent residency, and household registration. This institutional design organically integrates cultural heritage protection, agricultural continuity, and community stability, ensuring that villagers become the true masters of heritage preservation and tourism development.
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By 2025, the highest dividend for a single household reached 20,000 RMB. To date, the village's cumulative dividends have totaled 3.4525 million RMB, with an average of 53,116 RMB per household. Consequently, Azheke Village was successfully selected as one of the UN's "Best Tourism Villages," and the "Azheke Plan" has been listed by the UN Tourism as a classic case of poverty alleviation through tourism, now entering the stage of model promotion and deepening.
Professor Bao Jigang has long maintained that tourism is a powerful force for poverty alleviation and economic revitalization. From receiving the UN Tourism Ulysses Prize—the highest academic honor in global tourism—to being named a national-level "Sannong" Figure of the Year, the seamless integration of his scholarly research with grassroots practice continues to demonstrate the critical value of knowledge innovation in serving comprehensive rural revitalization.
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Professor Bao’s recognition as a 2025 "Sannong" Figure of the Year is a vivid testament to how academic research can serve national strategies and take root in rural China. It further showcases the academic leadership and social responsibility of the School of Tourism Management at Sun Yat-sen University in advancing rural revitalization and promoting the high-quality development of the tourism industry.