Over 50 years ago, the average yearly income of the villagers in Jiangxiang village, Jiangsu province was less than 70 yuan ($10) but today all 200 families in the village have a two-story villa to live in and feel comfortable in many ways.

"I moved to the house in 2001 and paid a much lower price than the cost," said Wang Lanying, a villager in her 60s.

From 1995, a vast array of 220-square-meter two-story villas, painted in light pink or blue, have been designed and built in a uniform manner and allocated to each household.

"Each house cost around 300,000 yuan to construct, but the villagers only needed to pay 128,000 yuan. The rest was covered by the village collective," said Chang Desheng, 79, the village's Party chief.

Targeted subsidies have also been provided to elderly care, medical care and education.

Men can get a pension when they reach 58 and women when they reach 55. The pensions vary from 600 yuan to 2,300 yuan a month. The village covers 50 percent of out-of-pocket medical expenses. Scholarships are offered to students who are enrolled in universities as undergraduate or postgraduate.