The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has released the list of demonstration villages under its Rural Recognition Initiative. Longxian Village in Fangshan Township was successfully selected as a global model for sustainable rural development. The evaluation adopts a comprehensive assessment across four dimensions: Better Production, Better Nutrition, Better Environment and Better Living, taking economic development, cultural heritage protection, ecological utilization and rural innovation into account. The selected villages fall into four categories, showcasing the diverse rural development outcomes of Zhejiang's "Ten-Million Project".

Longxian is an ancient farming village with a thousand-year history, home to a 1,300-year-old rice-fish symbiosis ecosystem that forms a circular farming model of rice and rice fish. In earlier years, scattered farming and a lack of unified standards resulted in low agricultural returns, driving many young people to work elsewhere and holding back village development. In 2005, the local rice-fish symbiosis system was inscribed on the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) list. As the core protected zone, the village rolled out a five-unified production and sales model, developed rural tourism by integrating ecological landscapes and overseas Chinese culture, and has since been awarded the titles of National Key Village for Rural Tourism and National Model Village for Rural Governance.

Fangshan Township promotes all-round development by leveraging its rice-fish agricultural heritage and overseas Chinese resources. In the primary sector, local rice-fish rice has won high-quality rice awards. In 2025, rice planting covered over 2,000 mu, with nearly 1,800 mu of land under large-scale transfer. Multiple farming models run in parallel, lifting farm household incomes by more than 2 million yuan.

Agriculture-tourism integration has extended the industrial chain, with locally developed deep-processed rice products. In 2025, the village received over 470,000 visitors, generating 57 million yuan in total tourism revenue. Study tour visitor numbers rose sharply, and farm stay revenue grew steadily. The integrated model of agricultural heritage, study tours and cultural tourism has been widely recognized.

The township taps into agricultural heritage and overseas Chinese culture, and has revitalized idle rural residences to build a series of village exhibition halls. Agricultural heritage-themed animations have been produced and broadcast overseas. In cooperation with universities, it has established China's first agricultural heritage research institute, germplasm test fields and Rice Fish Science and Technology Backyard to strengthen its research and study tour features and build an exclusive cultural tourism brand.

Longxian Village's UN certification is full recognition of local agricultural heritage protection and sustainable development. Going forward, Fangshan Township will continue to protect and revitalize agricultural heritage, improve industrial and tourism supporting facilities, explore an integrated path of heritage preservation, village operation and ecological conservation, and build a global model for agricultural heritage inheritance.