Yangtze Delta wins war on poverty
Sitting in front of his smartphone, Zhang Chuanfeng touts dried sweet potatoes to viewers on China鈥檚 video-sharing app Douyin, also known as TikTok.
鈥淭hese are made from sweet potatoes I grew by myself. They are sweet and have an excellent texture,鈥 said Zhang while livestreaming in Tangjiahui Township of Jinzhai County in east China鈥檚 Anhui Province. Tucked away in the boundless Dabie Mountains, the township used to have the biggest poor population in the county.
The Anhui provincial government yesterday announced that its last nine county-level regions including Jinzhai and Funan counties had been removed from the country鈥檚 list of impoverished counties.
This marks that all 31 impoverished county-level regions in Anhui have shaken off poverty, echoing China鈥檚 efforts to eradicate absolute poverty by the end of 2020.
With the announcement, all county-level regions in the Yangtze River Delta have been officially lifted out of poverty for the first time in history.
Zhang might seem like a typical e-commerce businessman reaping success in China鈥檚 booming livestreaming industry. But his road to success has been a lot bumpier: He suffers from dwarfism.
A little more than 1.4 meters tall, Zhang has a babyface, making him 鈥渓ook like a junior school student,鈥 he said. But the man, 38, is the father of a 9-year-old boy.
For Zhang, life was tough before 2014. 鈥淣obody wanted me because of my 鈥榙isabilities鈥 when I went out to look for jobs,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 was turned down again and again.鈥
Zhang was put on the government鈥檚 poverty list in 2014 as China implemented targeted poverty-relief measures. With the help of local officials, he got a bank loan of 10,000 yuan (US$1,400) and bought 22 lambs.
He tended the animals whole-heartedly and seized every opportunity to learn how to raise them more professionally.
Within a year, the number of his lambs expanded to hundreds. In 2016, Zhang鈥檚 earnings exceeded 100,000 yuan, more than enough for him to cast off poverty.
Riding on this success, Zhang began to seek new opportunities. He rented a shop and started selling products online to embrace an e-commerce strategy the local government introduced in 2017.
More than 100 online shops, including Zhang鈥檚, in the county have helped more than 7,000 poverty-stricken households sell about 73 million yuan worth of local specialties since 2018. Zhang alone earned 500,000 yuan from a sales revenue of 5 million yuan last year.
About 100 kilometers north of Jinzhai lies Funan, a place that used to be vulnerable to constant floods.
Flourishing willows
Zhang Chaoling, who lives by the Huaihe River in Funan, had to flee her hometown at a young age due to floods. But now the place has flourished on a willow plantation along the river.
鈥淭he land is largely covered by silt following continual flooding in the past. It is an ideal place to plant willows and make wickerwork,鈥 Zhang said.
Zhang left her hometown for Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, in 1993 and found a job in a garment factory.
A few years later, she founded a trading company with her husband in Guangzhou, selling wickerwork products from her hometown to other countries.
Zhang returned to her hometown and set up a wickerwork production base in 2011.
Funan is famous for its delicate wickerwork. Skilled craftsmen traditionally use local willow as a raw material to weave products such as baskets, furniture and home decorations.
鈥淭he flood is well controlled now. I remember the last huge flood came in 2007,鈥 Zhang said.
Taking advantage of the fertile land along the Huaihe River, she plants over 130 hectares of willow trees and employs hundreds of locals mostly in their 50s and 60s.
鈥淚 can process 100 to 150 kilograms of willow twigs per day,鈥 said Geng Shifen, who peels willow twigs with a clamp next to the plantation.
A total of 130,000 people are engaged in the wickerwork industry in Funan, creating an output of nearly 9 billion yuan in 2019, and helping 15,000 locals shake off poverty, local statistics showed.
(Xinhua)
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS
- |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔$粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.