China's Guangxi lifts 1.25 mln out of poverty in 2019

Newly built houses of relocated villagers in Nonghe Village in Dahua Yao Autonomous County, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Nov. 14, 2019. (Xinhua/Huang Xiaobang)

Guangxi has identified the relocation of 710,000 people from inhospitable areas during the 13th Five-year Plan period (2016-2020) as a key battle against poverty.

South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region lifted 1.25 million people out of poverty and delisted 1,268 poor villages in 2019, according to preliminary statistics from the regional poverty-relief office.

Guangxi has identified the relocation of 710,000 people from inhospitable areas during the 13th Five-year Plan period (2016-2020) as a key battle against poverty.

By the end of November this year, the region had largely completed the relocation program and moved a total of 707,400 local residents to places with better living conditions, according to Tan Feng, deputy director of the region's reservoir and poverty alleviation and relocation center.

"In the past, I never dreamed of living in such a good house," said Gan Lian in a local resettlement area. Her family of seven moved from the mountainous area to a new 114.9-square meter house in August 2018. While her husband works elsewhere and earns over 4,000 yuan (about 572 U.S. dollars) a month, her child attends a nearby school and she works for a local firm earning around 50 yuan a day.

The region also received financial support of 1.76 billion yuan from neighboring Guangdong Province this year. A total of 1,410 Guangdong enterprises have invested 13.86 billion yuan in Guangxi and built 33 poverty alleviation industrial parks and 337 workshops, benefiting 101,800 poor people.