Business solutions to poverty

The entrance to Xiushui Village [Photo by Luo Pengfei]

Staying poor is not simply a matter of having little money. Sometimes it's the result of a series of unstable circumstances that build upon one other. Not knowing how to best use available funds is one reason people stay trapped in poverty.

Xiushui, a remote village in southwest China's Guizhou Province, has 1,321 poor people, or almost one third of its total population. Due to the area’s fragile mountainous ecology, locals are discouraged from making changes.

"A local business, the Xingwei Group, has helped us a lot by repairing roads, building schools and donating money to the poor. However, our villagers were still living below the poverty line, because there was no primary source of income except farming. So farmers generally flowed into big cities and become migrant workers," said Luo Pengfei, a cadre who is in charge of anti-poverty projects across Puding County, where Xiushui Village is located.

But now things have completely changed. "Almost 80 percent of the villagers who used to work away from Xiushui have returned already," said Luo.

"I rushed home after hearing the news of the enterprise-plus program that has helped to completely renovate and develop my hometown. Being employed nearby, I can live together with my family while taking care of my little kids," a local worker told Chinagate.cn.

Initiated and supported by the Xingwei Group, the program focuses on how to make full use of its 377 million yuan (U.S. $58 million) investment. Diversified into five parts, the funds are mainly used for training local workers, launching farming business and promoting social welfare.

In addition, the investment has covered the construction of 56 tourist attractions, such as an archery field, a water park, a fishing pond and a natural bathing beach. It also extends into regional agriculture, involving the development of organic vegetable and fruit farms as well as the raising of poultry and livestock.

Statistics released by the local government show that agro-tourism revenue from the weeklong Spring Festival holiday this year rose to more than 1.2 million yuan (U.S. $0.18 million) with a comfortable capacity of 500,000 visitors.

"The business model of Xiushui should be popularized nationwide as it has turned the once poverty-stricken community into a thriving village. It not only enjoys the fastest economic growth among its peers in Guizhou, but also does no harm to the local ecology," spoke Luo.