This report aims to assist the central government to design a strategy for improving public service delivery in rural areas, with a pilot to fast-track implementation of specific aspects of this strategy. In assessing current public service delivery in rural China, the report adopts a methodological framework that focuses on the accountability relationships among the four key stakeholders: the central government, local governments, service providers, and rural citizens. The report has analyzed the role of the four key stakeholders in the delivery of public services in rural areas, the accountability relationships among them, and how the central government guides these roles and accountability relationships. The report concluded that the system of providing rural public services is in a process of transition and that recent efforts have brought substantial improvements, with many benefits already tangible. It added that the government's continuing focus on strengthening rural public services is well justified and that an additional challenge is that the demands for public services in rural areas are changing rapidly. Moreover, the government faces many opportunities but also substantial challenges to further strengthen the system of public service delivery.