Fishermen in Fujian Province relocate onshore

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China continues its battle against poverty and the country has vowed to eradicate it by 2020. Southeast China's Fujian Province is one of the areas greatly affected by poverty.

Along its coastal area, a group of people known as ”Gypsies of the sea" lived in thatched sheds on small boats. To lift them out of poverty, the local government began to relocate them onshore from the late 1990s.

The fishing village of Xipi, southeast China's Fujian Province /CGTN Photo

At the end of 2013, all 1,400 people from some 350 households in Xipi village completed their relocation, saying goodbye to their floating life.

Living on a boat has become a distant memory for those living in Fujian Province's Xipi Village. Though most villagers were born and raised on boats, they now live onshore.

55-year-old Liu Deren was among the first batch who began a new life in a brick-and-mortar house in 1999.

"I had been living a tough life on a boat for more than three decades. When typhoons would hit the sea, we could barely sleep there. Thanks to the government's financial assistance, my family built our first house onshore with the same cost of building a fishing boat. And we also received a 3,000 yuan subsidy," said Liu Deren.

Local Villager Liu Deren was relocated in 1999, among the first batch of fishermen who moved onshore. /CGTN Photo

Moving may sound easy. But settling down was another story. How could fishermen, with little education, afford the living costs and even money on land?

With a coastline of more than 18 kilometers, Xipi village offered a solution – aquaculture.

"We invited fishing experts and gave lectures to villagers. We are pleased to see both the output and value of aquaculture has been on the rise every year. Secondly, our government provided financial support, offering a total of 12 million yuan in loans to the fishermen in Xipi village," Ye Zhebin, CPC Party Secretary of Xiwei town, told CGTN.

In 2017, villagers' average income reached more than 18,000 yuan (or nearly 3,000 US dollars) per capita, 20 times more than that in the 1990s.

"We were trained on how and in what seasons to grow oysters and fish. That's very useful. Each year, we were given two or three training sessions. Now my family of six can earn more than 100 thousand yuan a year," added Liu Deren.

China used to have some 70 thousand households living on boats across rivers and seas. But due to the country's war against poverty, most have been involved in the relocation plan.

When the tide rises again, it is time for Liu and his fellow fishermen to go fishing. But now, they feel much safer as they have a place called home on land.