Hechi makes significant progress in poverty alleviation

Hechi's poverty alleviation efforts have been widely considered as one of the main battlefields in the war against poverty in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region and even the whole country. After five years of hard work, the city is about to complete the task this year.

From 2016 to 2019, a total of 702,200 impoverished people, 625 poor villages, and seven poor counties (districts) were lifted out of poverty, while the poverty incidence rate dropped from 20.16 percent to 1.86 percent.

In recent years, Hechi has made great efforts to help lift people out of poverty. The city has completed 1,015 basic education projects that ensure that no student in the city drops out of school due to poverty. It has implemented medical security policies, as well as provided full-coverage village-level medical and health care services. More than 75,000 dilapidated houses in rural areas were renovated, providing 301,000 impoverished with safe and stable housing. A total of 28,300 drinking water safety projects were implemented, solving the drinking water problem of 276,000 people.

Hechi has also developed characteristic industries, such as walnuts, silkworms, camellia, sugar cane, fruit, as well as pig, beef, and sheep breeding, to ensure that people are able to have a stable and sustainable source of income. It is estimated that by the end of this year, the industries will have increased the annual per capita income of rural residents by more than 5,000 yuan ($731.86) and directly drive 550,000 impoverished people out of poverty.

The city has invested 11.59 billion yuan to open 121 resettlement sites, build 40,000 resettlement houses, and relocate 176,200 people. Expressways and high-speed railways are currently under construction, roads are being built to all villages, while electricity and 4G networks are completing full coverage.

In addition, Hechi has received a total of 1.48 billion yuan in poverty alleviation funds from Guangdong province and Shenzhen, carrying out 587 aid projects and directly benefiting more than 290,000 impoverished people.