Young people in front lines of poverty alleviation

Located in the southern part of the Qinba mountain area—one of the 14 contiguous areas of extreme poverty in China, stretching across the provinces of Shaanxi, Sichuan, Chongqing and Hubei—Chengkou County in southwest China’s Chongqing has poor natural conditions and a large portion of people living in extreme poverty, two traits that are very difficult to combat.

Since 2012, a total of 1,090 youth cadres—made up of university student village officials, appointed students, special-post teachers, civil servants, and staff from public institutions—have been working in the front lines to lift Chengkou out of poverty. Statistics show that 2 towns, 66 villages, 15,000 impoverished households, and 62,000 impoverished people in the area have got rid of poverty since 2012, over which time the poverty rate has decreased from 14.3% to 5.8%.

A graduate of Chongqing University of Technology, Liu Junxiao chose to become a poverty alleviation volunteer in Liangfeng Village, Zhouxi Town in Chengkou.

Liu (L) helps a villager with cooking. [Photo by Tang Yi]