Chinese charity donates 50 water tanks to poverty-stricken area

A total of 50 water tanks are set to head for people in poverty-stricken regions in the city of Hechi, southern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the China Siyuan Foundation for Poverty Alleviation said Thursday in Beijing.

The foundation was established by the Central Committee of China National Democratic Construction Association in 2007, to prompt enterprise engagement in poverty relief and other charity projects.

Each donated water tank has a capacity of 60 cubic meters, which is able to meet a household's annual water needs.

Meanwhile, it will help the villagers develop water-saving irrigation agriculture, so as to lift the people in the mountainous areas out of poverty.

Li Xiaolin, an official with the foundation, said that the foundation has listed Guangxi as a key poverty-alleviation area and has donated 74 million yuan (about 10.5 million U.S. dollars) to the region, which helped build 1,282 water cellars, two water conservancy facilities and eight drinking water pools.

More than 29,000 poor people in Guangxi still lack access to safe drinking water. Over 600,000 people in the region are faced with drinking water shortages.