Level Measurement and Countermeasure Analysis of China's Rural Revitalization: An Entropy Evaluation Method

Purpose: China has placed the rural revitalization strategy at the core of its economic development agenda, aiming to promote the modernization process with Chinese characteristics and achieve common prosperity for all. Constructing a scientific and efficient evaluation index system for rural revitalization and measuring the level of rural revitalization is a core element and theoretical support to ensure the steady progress of this strategy. Design/methodology/approach: The study constructs a unique evaluation index system to measure the level of rural revitalization in China, analyzes the current state of rural revitalization development across the country and in four major regions, and discusses the development of five subsystems (industrial prosperity, ecological livability, rural civilization, effective governance, and affluent living). Findings: On one hand, the level of rural revitalization in China has been steadily increasing, showing a pattern of Northeast > East > Central > West. The western and central regions have lower levels of rural revitalization development but are growing faster, while significant regional disparities still exist between the eastern, northeastern regions, and others. On the other hand, among the five subsystems, in terms of index size, the industrial prosperity index is the highest, being the main driving force for the development of rural revitalization in China, followed by the ecological livability index and the effective governance index. The rural civilization index and the affluent living index are the lowest. In the future, vigorously developing rural civilization and improving the economic level of rural areas will be important focal points for rural development. In terms of trends, all five subsystems show a uniform growth trend, indicating that the development of rural revitalization in China has been effective. Research limitations/implications: The article considers the regional comparison of China's rural revitalization level and the development of subsystems, but the analysis remains superficial and does not delve into the theoretical logic and influencing factors of China's rural revitalization development. Future research can continue to explore this area. The conclusions of this study provide a practical basis for comprehensively promoting rural revitalization and common prosperity, and offer scientific references for future policy-making and practical operations. Originality/value: A scientific and unique comprehensive evaluation index system has been constructed, utilizing the entropy method to measure the level of rural revitalization in China, and revealing the development differences among different regions as well as the development status of subsystems. Its value lies in providing data support for policymakers and practitioners, which helps in formulating and implementing rural revitalization strategies more accurately.