People have always called Liu Gongli a "tough girl."

As the first Party secretary of Potou Village, Wangmo County of Qianxinan Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Liu has encouraged 60 percent of the village's residents to relocate to alleviate poverty. 

There are 271 households with 1,354 residents in this remote, poverty-stricken mountain village. 98 percent of the population is from the Miao ethnic group. In 2014, 75.99 percent of the residents were considered impoverished.

To make sure the villagers can have better living conditions, Liu encouraged most of them to move out of the village to richer towns.

For villagers who chose to stay in the village, Liu encouraged them to participate in the pepper planting industry.

By October, no resident of the village was still designated as impoverished.