China's poverty relief benefits neighboring countries

China's poverty-relief campaign brings benefits not only to its citizens, but also to people in neighboring countries.

In Houqiao Village of Tengchong City, southwest China's Yunnan Province, the local government has been encouraging people to participate in cross-border trade to increase their income.

"Houqiao was a poor village with about 1,780 residents, but now more than 300 have joined cross-border trade," said villager Cai Fuhui. "We have earned more than 600,000 yuan (90,000 U.S. dollars) in the past half year."

Myanmar residents are also doing well. According to He Yuanshu, general manager of a trading company in Tengchong, the company currently employs more than 5,000 Myanmar workers, and the number could exceed 7,000 during busy harvesting seasons.

In Yunnan's Zhangjialaozhai Village, which borders Myanmar, the local government has just built a cement road linking the once secluded village with a nearby town. The village produces some of the best tea, but poor transportation blocked its sales. With the new road, the tea is accessible to the outside world, with each kilogram fetching as much as 400 yuan.

"The Myanmar village several kilometers away also benefited from the road," said villager Ai Shuaixiang. "Because they grow tea on the mountains next to ours, they now sell their tea in our village too, which can reach many customers thanks to the new road."

In mid-April, Chinese authorities held a "village head seminar" in a border county in Yunnan. About 100 village heads, entrepreneurs and government officers from China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand attended.

During the seminar, they expressed hope for better incomes for their farmers and enhanced international cooperation.

"We hope there will be more agricultural training and exchanges on China's poverty-relief experience," said an attendant at the seminar.