Yellow River is long considered as one of the cradles of the Chinese civilization to all the Chinese people. The river flows across China's mainland from west to east into the ocean and also through thousands of years of Chinese history into modern life. 

March 9 is the Mother River Protection Day in China. As one of China's mother rivers, the Yellow River witnessed nine villages along its pathway eradicated poverty amid the campaign of the Communist Party of China (CPC) to eliminate poverty.

Amid the national poverty alleviation campaign, locals in these nine poverty-stricken villages have shaken off poverty through targeted measurements tailored by the government.

Village relocation plans

The village relocation plan is one of the most significant innovations in China's poverty alleviation campaign. China has relocated nearly 10 million poor residents from remote barren and disaster-prone areas to more habitable places between 2016 and 2020.

Taking Fumin New Village of Gulang County, Wuwei City, northwest China's Gansu Province, as an example, before, some people living in the areas can't get access to roads reaching out of the mountainous region, or even drinkable water.

The local government paid for the relocation fee for the whole village, moving them to a village equipped with all essential infrastructures. As a starting point, locals have been working hard to develop a suitable and profitable industry around the new community, leading to a sustainable path to a moderately prosperous life.

Another example is Sanhe Village.

China's Sichuan Province, whose mountainous areas have long been a citadel of abject poverty, declared it had removed the poverty label from all of its counties last year. Lying deep in Sichuan's Daliang Mountains, Sanhe village once was a village stuck in deep poverty. 

Amid the poverty alleviation plan, the village leveraged crop farming, animal breeding, and cultural and tourism industries to lift its villagers out of poverty. The villagers' annual income per capita was 23,423 yuan ($3,616) in 2018, nearly double from 2013.

Develop advantageous local industries

Maanshan Village of Chifeng, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, once suffered from poverty due to a weak economic foundation in the past, has taken a series of measures to promote grape cultivation and wine industry. 

In 2019, over 200 households are engaged in grape planting in the village, with a planting area of over 3,000 mu (200 hectares), according to Xinhua.

Another village, Sanjianxi Village of Zhangqiu City, east China's Shandong Province, is listed as one of the fine examples of rural revitalization for its effort to build its tourist industry to help increase the local's income.

"We sometimes have over 17,000 people visiting the food street every day during peak days, 7,000 people at least even in the low season," village Party secretary Gao Shuzhen told China Daily.

"The village is still building a bed-and-breakfast business, and future plans include offering pet boarding services. Industry development is fundamental for rural revitalization. By developing tourism, our aim is to increase the villagers' income and the village's collective income," Gao added.

Chinese President Xi Jinping announced on February 25 that China has secured a "complete victory" in its fight against extreme poverty. Over the past eight years, the final 98.99 million impoverished rural residents living under the current poverty line have all been lifted out of poverty.

All the nine villages along the Yellow River, Banyan Village of Qinghai Province, Sanhe Village of Sichuan Province, Fumin New Village of Gansu Province, Minning Town of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Maanshan Village of Harqin Qi of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Jiangjiaping Village of Shaanxi Province, Zhaojiawa Village of Shanxi Province, Zhangzhuang Village of Henan Province, Sanjianxi Village of Shandong Province, are vivid stories about China's achievement of the poverty eradication campaign.

Watch the video about the poverty eradication achievement in nine villages along Yellow River here.