Bright future for struggling region
Print Edition
The land surrounding Qicun, a small township in north China’s Hebei Province, used to be infertile and barren. Now, the once-bare hills shimmer with farms that require no water.
Thousands of solar panels laid by local workers, who joke that they are “planting the sun,” are offering a ray of hope for the region’s impoverished farmers.
Qicun remained one of the country’s least developed regions for years, with villagers completely unaware of the huge untapped resource all around them — 2,599 hours of sunshine a year.
It wasn’t until state-owned energy conglomerate China Three Gorges Corp, stepped in three years ago that they began to see the region’s potential.
The company rented land from residents and employed local workers to erect photovoltaic installations. Li Jinru, a villager, said he was paid 120 yuan (nearly US$20) per day during construction and 80 yuan for equipment maintenance after the PV power plant began operation.
Li is not the only one who benefitted from the project, which is already China’s largest PV power station in mountainous areas with installed capacity totaling 99 megawatt. It created 7,000 jobs in the township and, more importantly, brought hope for prosperity to the remote area.
The project was only one small step in the government’s plan to combat national poverty, currently in focus as the country prepares to celebrate its second National Poverty Relief Day on Saturday, which is also the 23rd International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. Hong Tianyun, deputy director of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development of China, said at a press conference yesterday that poverty relief will remain a top priority for China over the next five years.
Hong said the government will carry out more effective and targeted measures to enrich a total of 70.17 million people in the countryside living below the country’s poverty line of 2,300 yuan, including launching education campaigns, encouraging financial support and building public platforms to mobilize more people in the fight against poverty.
Qicun’s story illuminated a previously overlooked path for more effective poverty relief amid a lingering economic slowdown — promoting major construction projects in rural areas that can improve living environments, boost employment and drive regional growth.
As a result, the government has accelerated infrastructure development, irrigation work and energy projects in poverty-stricken regions.
Northwest China’s Gansu Province has undertaken a 7.45-billion yuan water diversion project that will channel clean water to more than 2.5 million people plagued by drought. Jiao Yong, vice minister of water resources, said the government has planned 172 water conservation projects nationwide.
“Those projects have a huge demand for labor, equipment and raw materials and will significantly drive upstream and downstream industries,” Jiao said.
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