Out of Poverty: Fishermen in Fujian province relocate onshore

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02:53

China is now battling against poverty, as the country has vowed to eradicate it by 2020. Southeast China's Fujian province is a case in point. Along its coastal area, a group of people known as "Gypsies on the sea" used to live in thatched sheds and small boats. To lift them out of poverty, the government began to relocate them onshore in the late 1990s. Chuck Tinte has the story.

Home on a boat, that 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.

LIU DEREN XIPI VILLAGE, FUJIAN PROVINCE "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 cost of building a fishing boat. And we also received a 3,000 yuan subsidy."

At the end of 2013, all 1,400 people from some 350 households in Xipi village completed their relocation. Moving may sound easy. But settling down was another story. How could fishermen, with a poor education, afford the living costs and even earn more on land? With a coastline of more than 18 kilometers, Xipi village offered a solution - aquaculture.

YE ZHEBIN, CPC PARTY SECRETARY XIWEI TOWN, FUJIAN PROVINCE "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."

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

LIU DEREN XIPI VILLAGE, FUJIAN PROVINCE "We were trained on how and in what seasons to grow oysters and fish well. That's very useful. Each year, we were given two or three trainings of the kind. Now my family of 6 can earn more than 100 thousand yuan a year."

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. Chuck Tinte, CGTN.