A shining example of poverty alleviation

Miao village in western Hunan has been completely transformed into a prosperous community during the past seven years

Shibadong, a village of the Miao ethnic group in the Xiangxi Tujia and Miao autonomous prefecture in the west of Hunan province, has witnessed tremendous changes over the past seven years. The remote, impoverished and undeveloped village has been transformed into a national demonstration area of targeted poverty alleviation.

Shibadong is named after the village's 18 natural caves. In 2013, the idea of targeted poverty alleviation was first introduced at the then poverty-stricken village. In 2014, village Party secretary Shi Shunlian retired from the position and launched a Miao embroidery cooperative to help local housewives earn additional income.

Miao embroidery features rich colors among its various figures. It was among the first traditions of its kind listed as a national intangible cultural heritage item in 2006.

In 2018, famed Hunan-based train manufacturer CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive worked together with the cooperative, making its high-speed trains into an image envoy of the embroidery.

Stitching at home, each member of the cooperative could earn 2,000 yuan ($300) to 3,000 yuan per month. At that time, the average annual per capita disposable income of Chinese residents was about 28,000 yuan.

After being lifted out of poverty in 2016, the villagers committee began building new transportation infrastructure and living facilities while also upgrading the village's old infrastructure and facilities. The village now has a major highway that is 7-8 meters in length and paved roads link to every household.

The committee has also constructed sightseeing walkways, post offices and ATMs. It built a rural library and a poetry club to enrich local people's cultural lives.

The improvement of transport, residential buildings and tourism facilities has helped attract more tourists to the village, bringing new options for local residents to make a living. Many of them have run nongjiale, or farm homestay businesses, and worked as tour guides.

The village government financially supported the Miao Hanzi Cooperative to cultivate kiwi fruit in 2014. The geography, altitude and average temperature make the village a suitable place to grow fruit.

Kiwi fruit plantation areas in Shibadong now reach 200 hectares and have an annual output of more than 1,000 metric tons. The industry has helped 939 residents rise above the poverty line.

In June 2018, Laotian President Bounnhang Vorachit, who is also general secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party Central Committee, visited Shibadong as the first foreign head of state to explore China's targeted poverty alleviation.

The Laotian president saw a 6-m-wide paved road which was turned from a 3.5-m-wide winding mountain trail. Every household had access to tap water.

Hunan province has made major poverty-relief achievements in recent years. It has created many national "firsts", such as the first poverty alleviation-oriented microcredit loans and the first labor market for low-income people.

The Hunan provincial government has sent 6,900 officials to serve as the heads of villages in charge of poverty alleviation, along with 56,000 officials working in the villages to help fight poverty.

From 2012-19, 7.47 million people from 6,920 villages in Hunan were lifted out of poverty, and the average annual income of farmers in impoverished counties had surged by 14.6 percent year-on-year, 3.6 percentage points higher than the province's average.

The per capita annual disposable income of farmers in Hunan also increased from 5,137 yuan in 2014 to 11,344 yuan in 2019.