"We will continue to improve the rural living environment, and solve the problems of toilet improvement and garbage enclosure in rural areas with the spirit of nails... We will improve the appearance of villages and build beautiful villages." On February 3, the Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Anchoring the Modernization of Agriculture and Rural Areas to Promote the Comprehensive Revitalization of Rural Areas (hereinafter referred to as the No. 1 central document of 2026) was issued, making arrangements to solve the dilemma of garbage enclosure villages. Experts believe that the key to addressing the problem of rural household waste is to solve three things - where the money comes from, who manages the reasons, and where the waste goes. At present, more local legislation should be encouraged to shift from policy promotion to rule of law guidance, fixing the boundaries of responsibilities for garbage management among the government, village collectives, and farmers, so that there is a legal basis for "where money comes from, who manages the reasons, and where garbage goes". Since entering the targeted attack stage for some time, incidents of garbage surrounding villages have occurred from time to time. Last July, some rural areas in Changzhi City, Shanxi Province were exposed for dumping garbage in farmland and polluting the surrounding environment. In November of the same year, Yiliang County in Yunnan Province was exposed for dumping a large amount of household waste deep in the mountains. In January of this year, a village in Tianjin Binhai New Area was exposed to the random stacking of garbage... In 2026, the No. 1 central document proposed to solve the problem of surrounding villages with garbage in the spirit of nails. Hou Jiaru, director of the Institute of Environment and Resource Law at China University of Political Science and Law, believes that this indicates that the governance of rural living environment in China has begun to tackle the "hard bone" - in the past, the focus was on "local collection" of rural garbage, but now it directly targets the stubborn problem of garbage surrounding villages, marking a shift in the focus of work from "wide coverage" to "tackling difficulties". It is also worth noting that the No. 1 central document of the Central Committee of the CPC in 2026 will focus on the most realistic worries around the masses, which will really enhance the villagers' sense of gain. In the opinion of Zhang Shuailiang, a professor of Henan Agricultural University, the expression of the No. 1 central document in 2026 reflects that the rural human settlement environment improvement has entered the target attack stage, that is, focusing on the stubborn disease that the masses have strongly reflected. In 2026, the No. 1 central document of the Central Government also proposed to promote the reduction of rural domestic waste sources and improve the regular operation guarantee mechanism for collection, transportation and disposal. Hou Jiaru believes that this move clearly outlines a profound transformation in rural environmental governance, shifting from the battle of "facility coverage" to a long-term battle of "system sustainability". More importantly, to solve the dilemma of garbage surrounding villages, it is necessary to promote coordinated efforts in source reduction, classified recycling, and long-term management. Governance must be "systematic and long-term" to reshape the rural environment. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China attaches great importance to the management of rural household waste in order to solve the problem of pollution around the masses. In February 2018, the General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council issued the "Three Year Action Plan for Rural Living Environment Improvement", one of the key tasks of which is to "promote the management of rural household waste". In December 2021, the General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council issued the "Five Year Action Plan for Improving Rural Living Environment (2021-2025)", proposing to improve the collection, transportation, and disposal system of household waste, promote the classification, reduction, and utilization of rural household waste, and establish a long-term management and protection mechanism for rural living environment. In recent years, the No. 1 central document of the Central Committee has repeatedly made arrangements for rural garbage treatment. For example, in 2024, the No. 1 central document proposed to "improve the classified collection, transportation and disposal system of rural domestic waste, and improve the recycling network of rural renewable resources". In 2025, the No. 1 central document of the Central Government proposed to "promote the reduction of rural domestic waste sources, local treatment and resource utilization". Hou Jiaru believes that firstly, rural waste management is directly related to the key goal of comprehensive rural revitalization, which is "ecological livability". The continuous deepening of rural living environment improvement since 2018 is a footnote to this strategic determination. Second, the No. 1 central document has focused on the problem of waste surrounding villages for years, which is to truly transform the governance effect into a sense of gain and happiness within the reach of farmers. Thirdly, the evolution of document descriptions over the years shows the deepening trajectory of rural environmental governance from "existing" to "excellent", from single removal to system upgrading. Experts point out that the management of rural household waste still faces numerous difficulties, requiring auxiliary institutional support. In Hou Jiaru's view, uneven regional development and inadequate basic living facilities are still the "roadblocks" that cannot be avoided. The vast village area and scattered farmers determine that garbage collection and transportation cannot simply replicate the urban model. Building a collection network that covers the entire area and operates efficiently is costly and difficult to implement and maintain. According to Zhang Shuailiang's observation, in addition to scattered rural living, there is a lack of a model for garbage classification that fits the habits of farmers, and the implementation rate of villagers is relatively low; Some areas prioritize construction over management and maintenance, with insufficient funding and professional team support for facility operation, resulting in inefficient operation of facilities; The level of resource utilization is low, and garbage disposal is mainly based on simple removal, without fully forming a mechanism for resource recycling and utilization. Hou Jiaru suggested that a clear legal and planning pillar with clear rights and responsibilities should be established at the institutional level, and local legislation on rural household waste management should be encouraged based on the Rural Revitalization Promotion Law, etc., to solidify the rights and responsibilities of the government, village collectives, and farmers in the form of legal provisions. Include the layout and treatment mode of garbage management facilities as mandatory content in village planning to ensure that the facilities are "built correctly and put into use". Build a sustainable long-term operation and maintenance pillar, implement the management and maintenance funding system of "government subsidies, village collective planning, and moderate payment by farmers". He also mentioned that in order to manage where money comes from, who manages the reasons, and where garbage goes, auxiliary institutional support is needed, such as supporting the introduction of technical standards for facility construction that are suitable for the actual situation in rural areas, and improving the mechanism for village evaluation and dynamic monitoring. Zhang Shuailiang called for the improvement of the three-level collection, transportation, and disposal system at the county, township, and village levels to solve the rural garbage problem, and to plan small-scale treatment facilities according to local conditions; Establish a mechanism for villagers' participation, and guide them to participate in garbage classification and village cleaning through incentives; Strengthen source reduction and resource utilization, and improve the rural renewable resource recycling network; Establish a funding sharing mechanism of "farmer payment+village level coordination+government subsidies" and form a dedicated management and protection team; Incorporate garbage management into the comprehensive rural revitalization performance assessment and improve the investigation and accountability mechanism. The fundamental solution lies in legislation. According to experts, currently, there is no unified legislation specifically targeting rural waste management at the legal level in China, and relevant regulations are scattered in laws such as the Solid Waste Pollution Prevention and Control Law. However, it is worth noting that many places have introduced specialized legislation for rural waste management. On December 1, 2017, the "Regulations on the Management of Rural Domestic Waste in Gansu Province" came into effect (later revised in September 2021), which applies to the cleaning, classification, disposal, collection, transportation, treatment, supervision and management of rural domestic waste within the administrative area of Gansu Province. In addition, Guiyang City, Guizhou Province, Fuxin City, Liaoning Province, Yuxi City, Yunnan Province, Mount Huangshan City, Anhui Province and many other cities have made special legislation. Experts believe that China has established a multi-level regulatory system for rural waste management. Based on this, it is necessary to encourage more places to legislate specifically according to actual conditions and promote the legalization of local rural waste management. Specialized legislation is the fundamental solution to eradicate the problem of garbage surrounding villages. ”Hou Jiaru said that local specialized legislation can solve the four major problems at the institutional level. Set the "money" and establish laws to determine "how much the finance will supplement and how much the farmers will contribute", so that the money has a source and can be continuously deposited. Divide responsibilities and clarify who takes the lead and cooperates with departments such as natural resources, agriculture and rural areas, housing, and urban-rural development, ensuring that responsibilities are not neglected. Establish regulations and legislate to turn classified advertising and the "three guarantees in front of the door" into legal obligations, achieving the rule of law. To ensure long-term stability, legislation should be enacted to solidify effective mechanisms and ensure long-term non rebound. In Zhang Shuailiang's view, after local legislation accumulates mature experience, common rules can be elevated to national unified specialized laws. (New Society)