Full coverage: The Sixth Plenum of the 18th CPC Central Committee

While most college graduates compete for jobs in the big cities, others are choosing to work at the grassroots level in the countryside. Most of them are members of the Communist Party.

Li Tao, 35, never expected to be working as a village official for more than 10 years. He would have had more opportunities in the city after he graduated from college in 2005, but he chose to go to the countryside, taking up the challenge of running a village instead.

“I myself was born and raised in a farming village. So I wanted to go back and do something for rural people. In my opinion, a college-graduate village official’s job is not just to fit into rural life, but to make a difference there,” Li said.

Li first helped raise money to build roads and underground pipelines for tap water. Last year, he built the village’s first kindergarten and a clinic.

“He was too young to be trusted at the beginning. But he did change a lot in our village. Now he is improving our power grid to provide us steady electricity. We really appreciate it,” said villager Zhang Xiangguo.

“Most of the college-graduate village officials find it hard to fulfill their mission and quit the job. Many want it to be a springboard for promotion or get a better job. But I think I belong here” Li said.

For Li, working in the village is a career to develop. He is ambitious and has a bigger plan to improve living standards in the village. In 2010, he started his own venture project in farming industry.

Three years ago, he established a college-graduates village officials startup incubator, where all the village officials in Jiyuan City can start their own businesses.

“We felt lost about our future before, especially when our friends were living a more colorful life in the big cities. But when villagers are earning more money by selling products on our e-commerce website, we feel it's worthwhile,” said graduate village official Huang Yili.

Since 2005, the Chinese government has been encouraging graduates to work in villages in an effort to improve rural administration. More than 220,000 college graduate village officials have been working around the country.

Li says the reason that he would devote all his life to rural people is not just the passion and responsibility, but because he is a member of the Communist Party.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of college graduates are appointed as village officials. Most of them are members of the Communist Party.