Pulling People Out of Poverty: It will take a combined effort, no quick fix

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It is one of the most pressing topics facing the "two sessions", as China's annual political season winds down -- the issue of alleviating poverty in the coming years. Sean Callebs takes us through a day in northwestern Shaanxi province — and details the joys and the struggles people there face.

The day starts — as the sun, peeks over a residential area in rural Shaanxi Province. Primary school students, with their whole lives ahead of them pour into Wen' anyi school.

FENG YINGWEI PRIMARY SCHOOL HEADMISTRESS "Well, they have no pressure. And are happy and optimistic all day long. We are delighted to see the students so lively and vigorous — we hope that they could grow up to become the talents of our nation!"

But what kind of life will they lead? Many, come from very poor families. Leading the kind of lifestyle Chinese President Xi Jinping is vowing to eliminate by 2020. 50-year-old Feng Yingwei has been in education for more than 30 years —and sees changes, such as free school uniforms.

FENG YINGWEI PRIMARY SCHOOL HEADMISTRESS "Our students don't have to worry about clothing or food anymore —they have three meals a day at school for free."

It is difficult and at times a back-breaking job. Liu Haiyang owns this bit of land, and has a contract with the local town. Lunchtime, provides a welcome break to Liu and the locals he's hiring to do the job.

It may not seem like much, but people in the region make about 20-thousand yuan a year— or about 35-hundred US dollars. It's far more money than the three-thousand yuan even poorer people in some autonomous regions make.

LIU HANCHENG ORCHARD OWNER "I own this orchard —ten acres — and my job is farming the land, applying pesticides, and collecting firewood."

Mid-afternoon, find Liu Hancheng tending his orchard. He will use the wood for heat, and to cook. The United Nations has praised China's efforts to lift nearly 68-million people out of poverty over the past five years. That is roughly 37-thousand people a day.

SEAN CALLEBS SHAANXI "In the last generation or so, China improved the quality of life for hundreds of millions of people lifting them out of extreme poverty. Today the poverty rate is around three to four percent- but in a nation of 1.4-billion, you are still talking about an awful lot of people."

MIAO PUYING LIANGJIAHE RESIDENT "We were working somewhere else, and we came back to our hometown last year— we are too old to do labor anymore, so we came back and built this house. As long as we can make a living it's ok."

Miao Puying says she and her husband are getting by, and right now —adding a bathroom to this simple structure.

With no land to grow crops, fruit, or raise livestock, neighbors share what they can. China is vowing to spend billions more in the coming years to alleviate poverty.

As the school day comes to an end —we hear the familiar refrain. Eliminating poverty in China, won't be easy.

FENG YINGWEI PRIMARY SCHOOL HEADMISTRESS "We can feel the heavy burden on our shoulders as headmaster and teacher."

But they also sense the hope that these students will have a better life than their parents. Sean Callebs, CGTN in Shaanxi Province.