Escaping the black hole of poverty
Print Edition
Cao Xiulin, 46, described his former residence as 鈥渁 black hole,鈥 because he had thrown most of his money into it for maintenance.
Besieged by mountains in the city of Ankang, northwest China鈥檚 Shaanxi Province, the adobe house was often hit by flood-triggered landslides.
So when the local government initiated a plan to relocate the households in remote mountains in 2013, the former migrant worker knew his life would totally change.
鈥淚 was tired of being away from my family with high rent in cities and endless house repairs back home,鈥 said Cao.
As part of the government efforts to eliminate absolute poverty by 2020, China planned to relocate nearly 10 million poor residents to more habitable areas between 2016 and 2020.
For those living in barren and disaster-prone areas, to move out has become the last but also the most effective choice for poverty eradication.
Located in southern Shaanxi bordering Sichuan Province, Ankang is among the most impoverished regions in China.
In the early Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), a large number of natives in south China were moved to war-torn Sichuan to fill the population gap. To protect themselves from violence, some of them headed deep into the mountains and settled there.
Before the relocation project in 2013, the flood-prone southern Shaanxi area had seen more than 2,000 geological disasters over the decade, leaving nearly 600 dead or missing and 46 billion yuan (US$6.5 billion) of direct economic losses.
Working in cities used to be the only way for local laborers to support their families.
Cao, who became a migrant worker at the age of 19, has been a miner, a car repairman and an assembly worker in different cities.
鈥淚 missed my daughter very much and didn鈥檛 want her to be left at home,鈥 he said, adding that he decided to return and reunite with his family upon learning of the relocation plan.
Mostly funded by the local government, the family of three moved to a new apartment built for poverty alleviation in town, where Cao later ran an eatery for a living.
Factories mushroomed nearby, which enabled the relocated residents to work at their doorsteps.
鈥淭he resettled residents and workers have become my regular customers,鈥 Cao said.
According to the provincial government, Shaanxi had spent more than 110 billion yuan over the past 10 years, moving 2.2 million people out of mountainous areas.
Lan Zhifang, 30, works at a local electronics plant after her family was relocated in 2016.
Lan, a widow, is the breadwinner in her family of five, with two parents and two children.
鈥淐ompared with working away in cities, I鈥檓 now able to take care of my family at home,鈥 she said.
In the workshop of a community factory, 40 workers were busy assembling probes 鈥 tiny needles for chip testing.
Each worker produces up to 2,000 probes every day, bringing a total annual output of 20 million yuan to the company.
鈥淭he villagers can be skilled workers with proper training,鈥 said general manager Yue Jian, adding they have set up a new production line with 150 new jobs.
Over the past four years, China has relocated 9.3 million poor rural residents to more habitable areas, 9.2 million of whom moved out of poverty.
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