Hechi scores achievements in fighting against poverty

Hechi in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region has been implementing poverty alleviation measures in recent years, scoring great achievements.

By the end of the 12th Five-year Plan (2011-15), 10 of the 11 counties and districts in Hechi were poverty stricken ones, of which seven were national-level ones. The number of impoverished villages in the city by 2015 was 817, accounting for 54.57 percent of the total administrative villages in the city, while that of impoverished people was 691,000, making up 15.3 percent of the total impoverished population in Guangxi.

Seven poverty alleviation industries, covering walnuts, sugar canes, sericulture, oranges, pigs, chickens, and ducks, have been vigorously developed in Hechi in the past few years. About 2.1 billion yuan ($298.21 million) of financial funds was used to award and compensate impoverished households.

To date, the coverage of the seven industries in the city has reached 92.57 percent. A total of 237 agricultural demonstration gardens (bases) were built, driving 251,400 poverty-stricken households to get involved in these industries.

By the end of September, construction of 40,000 apartments for resettlement has been completed. The number of registered impoverished people in the city who have been resettled totaled 176,000, of which more than 110,000 people have been lifted out of poverty.

Since 2016, a total of 5.77 billion yuan has been invested by the people's government of Hechi to improve the city's infrastructure. All of the 1,604 administrative villages (including communities) in the city have received access to cement roads and broadband networks. Power supply in impoverished areas is fully covered.

The public services in impoverished areas have also been improved. By the end of September, a total of 263,800 impoverished people were resettled to other areas for employment.

The basic living allowance for rural residents was raised to 4,300 yuan per person per year, with a monthly per capita subsidy of more than 210 yuan. An extra 20 yuan is added for every extremely impoverished people per month. The rate of registered impoverished people joining the endowment insurance in Hechi reached 100 percent.

By the end of September, the number of registered impoverished people in the city who joined the basic medical insurance reached 1.03 million, and 1,398 standardized village clinics have been built.

In addition, 375 million yuan of educational funds was used to ensure students will not quit school due to poverty. To date, there have been 164,300 registered impoverished students in the city accessing the educational fund.

In Dashi mountainous area, projects to ensure people's drinking water safety have been carried out. In 2019, the total investment for these projects will hit 312 million yuan and is expected to benefit 172,000 people.

A photo taken on Sept 2, 2017 shows workers at Nongyong village in Dahua Yao autonomous county, Hechi constructing the water tank to ensure drinking water safety. [Photo/xinhuanet.com]