In Thinsom Village, nestled in the mountains of Laos's Luang Prabang Province, 54-year-old village chief Padith is eager to show a Chinese friend how his village has changed.
During a video call, he held up his phone proudly to introduce the village's first-ever kindergarten, built with help from a Chinese-invested company.
"Both the villagers of Shibadong and I are delighted to see how fast Thinsom Village has developed," said Shi Jintong, Party secretary of Shibadong Village in central China's Hunan Province, as he replied to the call.
Located deep in China's Wuling Mountains, Shibadong Village is widely known as the birthplace of "targeted poverty alleviation." This approach became a cornerstone of China's successful national campaign to eradicate poverty.
"Although Shibadong and Thinsom are more than 1,000 miles apart, we share the same goal: to push forward rural revitalization," Shi said.
Three years ago, the two villages signed an agreement of intent at the Shibadong Forum on Poverty Reduction and Development to become "international sister villages." Since then, inspired by Shibadong's example, Thinsom Village has started its own journey out of poverty.