An aerial view of Daishan county in Zhoushan. [Photo/Tide News]

An event for "Village CEOs" was held on Oct 29 in Daishan county in Zhoushan, East China's Zhejiang province, bringing together participants from across Zhejiang to discuss new approaches to managing and developing island villages.

A village CEO is a professional manager hired to run a village's development — similar to how a CEO manages a company.

The event was first held in 2024 by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of Zhejiang Province to strengthen market-oriented rural operations and promote shared prosperity.

Zhoushan has pioneered a model that tailors rural operations to local island conditions. Seventeen villages in the city have adopted market-based management, vitalizing 148 land resources, increasing collective village income by an average of 3.47 million yuan ($488,925) annually, and providing jobs for nearly 400 residents. By 2027, the city plans to establish 20 key village clusters to foster coordinated growth across more than 100 administrative villages.

Daishan, the event's host, has focused on coordinated development among the county seat, central towns, and key villages. Through large-scale land consolidation and planting, the county has implemented 28,800 mu (1,920 hectares) of "multi-field integration" and expanded large-scale cultivation to 23,000 mu, raising the mechanization rate from 39.2 percent to 53.9 percent.

The county has also built a modern agricultural park combining smart farming, low-carbon practices, and automated seedling production, as well as the Lulan Qingsha pastoral complex, which integrates leisure, tourism, and culture.