China's ambitious goal has been to eliminate all forms of poverty nationwide by 2020. To make that happen, a staggering 775,000 officials were dispatched to rural areas across the country in 2016, taking the fight against poverty head-on. I went to meet one of them here in Santai County to get a glimpse of the battle first-hand.
LI QIUYUAN SANTAI COUNTY, SICHUAN PROVINCE "This is my third time coming to Santai County, Sichuan Province. We keep coming back every year to track the progress being made on helping people escape extreme poverty. I've seen some visible transformations since my first visit in 2017. New roads are being built, for people to get connected with the outside world, to help children get to school safely, local industries are gradually taking shape in some of the villages in this county. But with that 2020 goal of 'reaching zero percent poverty rate' fast approaching, the urgency you feel here is very real. We've got over three quarters of a million officials dispatched to some of the most remote poverty-stricken areas, working on the front lines in the battle against poverty. And I'm about to meet one of them, to see how she's getting things done."
Deep in this picturesque mountain, Chaofeng Village in Santai county is where 514 families call home. In 2014, 317 people from 85 households here are identified by the national "targeted poverty alleviation program" as living below the poverty line, earning less than 3750 Yuan, or 530 US dollars a year.
When Wang Guihong took the job of village official here in 2015, she was confronted with a shocking reality.
WANG GUIHONG, PARTY SECRETARY CHAOFENG VILLAGE, SANTAI COUNTY, SICHUAN PROVINCE "The infrastructure in the village was really bad. There were only dirt roads and mud houses, with no local industries."
Building proper roads, replacing the dangerous mud houses, and finding sources of income for villagers soon became her top three priorities.
4 years on, roughly 10 kilometers of concrete roads have been built. New houses are in place. All villagers have moved into modernized homes. And after careful assessments, Wang Guihong has decided growing tangerines is the way out for the village.
WANG GUIHONG, PARTY SECRETARY CHAOFENG VILLAGE, SANTAI COUNTY, SICHUAN PROVINCE "We expect the tangerine trees to bear fruit next year. We expect a good profit for the villagers."
PENG QINGSHU, VILLAGER CHAOFENG VILLAGE "Ms. Wang was really helpful in getting us out of poor living conditions."
With the help of poverty alleviation funds worth nearly 10-million Yuan or 1.4 million US dollars, the poverty rate of Chaofeng village is down from 18.1% in 2015 to 2.27% in 2018. The village is on track to rid all extreme poverty by the end of 2019.