Anxi: From the poverty-stricken county to Top 100

Anxi used to be the most populous poverty-stricken county in China, but it has now been rated among the top 100 counties in consecutive years, Fujian Daily reported.

Gao Xiangrong, head of Anxi County, said that poverty reduction should resort to providing the poor with a better environment to develop projects so that they can gain regular revenue. Anxi has initiated its precise poverty reduction program, which connects private enterprises to the poor households and aims to get rid of poverty by offering jobs, developing industries and donations.

Gao Xiangrong emphasized that, drawing on his experience, poverty alleviation requires many supporting measures.

First, precise training is necessary. Party branch secretaries and village officers of the poverty-stricken counties will take courses to learn about new concepts. With precise targets, each poor family will receive training on planting techniques as well as animal husbandry and aquaculture techniques. At the same time, young workers will also accept professional training so as to work in industrial parks.

Second, an upgrading of infrastructure is also important. Anxi is a mountainous county along the coast. Its abundant agricultural resources fail to generate economic benefits due to the restriction of poor transportation. Therefore, the construction of infrastructure is needed. In recent years, Anxi has widened its country roads for the convenience of cargo transportation. The first phase of the project has reconstructed roads reaching 500 kilometers. The second phase targets to reconstruct 700 kilometers.

Financial poverty alleviation is the third supporting measure. In the past, it has been hard for poverty-stricken households to get a loan because they do not have a mortgage. In order to solve the problem, Anxi has carried out a series of financial measures including lowering the loan threshold for famers so that they are able to borrow 50,000 yuan (U.S. $7735) to improve their economic conditions by investing in the aquaculture or planting industries.

Lastly, poverty reduction through industrial development can increase the income of the poor. Anxi Tieguanyin tea, which is famous for its rich fragrance, has created great economic benefits and lifted many out of poverty. As for the areas where Tieguanyin cannot grow, the government encourages the residents there to grow other cash crops like yams, providing them with subsidies of up to 2,000 yuan (U.S. $309). Up to now, eight counties have been planting yams.