A student practices violin at a middle school in Congjiang county, Southwest China's Guizhou province. [Photo by Wu Dejun/For chinadaily.com.cn]

All counties in China are now free of poverty, after Guizhou province announced on Nov 23 that it had eliminated poverty in its nine poorest counties.

The nine counties, including Ziyun, Nayong, Weining and Yanhe, were the last on the country's list of 832 impoverished counties, which was compiled in 2014 by the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development.

The average annual net income of residents in the nine counties has risen to 11,487 yuan ($1,740), well above the 4,000-yuan national poverty line set this year, according to Li Jian, head of the provincial poverty-alleviation office.

The governments of Hangzhou and Qiandongnan Miao and Dong autonomous prefecture have taken multiple measures to lift people out of poverty, such as developing suitable industries, relocating people who lived in shabby places, and improving public services.

An aerial view of Rongjiang county in Qiandongnan Miao and Dong autonomous prefecture. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]

Qiandongnan Miao and Dong autonomous prefecture has to date brought in over 200 market entities and formed 10 industries with help from Hangzhou. A total of 37,400 impoverished individuals were offered jobs in Hangzhou and Zhejiang. The prefecture's per capita disposable income in rural areas has reached 11,092 yuan, up 15.4 percent year on year.

Over the past five years, Hangzhou has donated over 525 million yuan to help in the construction of hospitals, schools, and other essentials infrastructure, offering education to over 8,000 children and medical services to about 200,000 people.