Across China: The fight against poverty in NE China
Xinhua, March 3, 2017 Adjust font size:
Qi Jinming, a farmer in Suiling County in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, is happy to see his family get together this year, as his wife no longer needs to work far from home to pay debt.
Qi, 57, signed a contract for 280 mu (about 18.7 hectare) of paddy fields in 2010, but they were hit by a severe drought, and they lost over 200,000 yuan (about 29,000 U.S. dollars).
Qi fell sick worrying about the debt.
"Creditors flocked to my home especially during the Spring Festival, which drove us crazy," recalled You Jinhua, Qi's wife.
In 2012, You decided to leave home and find a job in Jinan city, while Qi stayed behind and earned a living doing odd jobs.
Qi's family took a favorable turn at the end of 2015 when Suiling county carried out a census on its poor people.
His family was identified as family in poverty as a result of a natural disaster or illness, and the county could offer Qi an 80,000 yuan loan to help him grow black fungus.
"We will invite advisors to teach you the latest cultivation technology," said Dong Min, party chief of Qi's village.
Qi then obtained a loan of 50,000 yuan and started to plant the fungus. He called his wife to return home last May to help with the busy farm work.
"I saw the new hope of life. I decided to come home," You said.
After a year's hard work, Qi had a bumper harvest in 2016 making a net profit of 40,000 yuan.
"It was really a pleasure to see my wife return home, and I paid back part of my debt," Qi laughed.
Qi also built a new house with an extra government subsidy of 40,000 yuan in 2016.
"If I planted more fungus last year, I would have earn enough money to build the house by myself," Qi said.
Pointing at a homestead near his new house, Qi said he had bought it to expand his growing area.
By 2016, over 18,900 people of Suijing's 6,883 households have escaped poverty, but about 2,800 remain in poverty.
Encouraged by such accomplishments, the local government plans to eradicate poverty in the county by 2017 by providing more fiscal support, upgrading agricultural infrastructure and improving medical treatment services. Endi