Hechi's poverty alleviation efforts see strong results

Hechi, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region made progress in 2017 in its battle to eradicate poverty, according to the government work report.

Hechi has successfully lifted 126,000 struggling individuals and 145 villages out of poverty in 2017, notably Nandan county, which has suffered a long history of crippling hardship.

Infrastructure has improved significantly and can now better sustain rural development.

Over 3.8 million dilapidated rural houses were renovated. Water safety is no longer an issue for 19,600 impoverished families and electrical safety problems have been fixed for 1,431 families.

A total of 932 kilometers of rural roads were built or upgraded, making remote villages more accessible.

About 385 million yuan was allocated to over 493,500 students in need. Surplus labor was transferred to urban areas in an effort to raise quality of life.

The city has also joined hands with Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong province to try to eliminate poverty by cooperating in areas of trade, labor, tourism, education and agriculture.

An investment of 183 million yuan was made to support an additional 48 projects which pulled 5,247 Hechi residents above the poverty line. A variety of events promoting cooperation in production and sales were held in Shenzhen, leading to steady agricultural development and a continued rise in rural incomes.

Low-interest loans and interest subsidies were provided to impoverished Hechi residents with the assistance of the People's Insurance Company of China (PICC), an insurance conglomerate, in order to develop cow breeding and oil-tea camellia planting. The innovative poverty-relief measure was praised by the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development due to its bold combination of insurance and financing.