For villager Xie Yanbao in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, growing sugarcane and corn had been the sole provider for his poverty-stricken family of six. But two years ago, things began to change.
He got a loan of 80,000 yuan (12,300 U.S. dollars) in 2014 from the local poverty relief project and started to raise chickens. In only two years, he became one of the richest men in his village.
Xie is among 52 million rural residents who benefit from the country's determined and effective poverty relief work in the past three years.
More than 600 million people were lifted out of poverty in the past three decades, about 70 percent of the total global achievement. China became the first developing country to meet the millennium development target.
Yet the battle against poverty is unlikely to end soon.
For the next five years, the government has named poverty reduction one of its top priorities, vowing to help the remaining 70 million poor people, who live below the poverty line of 2,300 yuan in annual income, shake off poverty and enjoy essential social services by 2020.
"To win the poverty relief battle is the bottom line for building a moderately prosperous society," said Liu Yongfu, head of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development.
COMBINED EFFORTS
Villager Yang Caihua has been living in a mountain shelter more than 1,700 meters above sea level for decades. He never imagined he could one day live in a two-story building with telephones and lamps. His dream came true in 2014.
The country's program to relocate people living in the poorest regions has allocated millions to people like Yang, placing them in better living conditions and providing them with housing, healthcare, education and employment.
During the relocation process, the government coordinated with different departments to carry out relief plans. The Finance Ministry increased fiscal expenditure, the Ministry of Water Resources ensured safe drinking water and the Ministry of Land and Resources plans land use.
