Guizhou county uses tea to escape poverty

Geely's project has provided a new model to help locals overcome poverty, said Li Dan, Party secretary of Wangfeng, a town located in Leishan county.

The project brings new tea production lines, skills and advanced management modes to give locals the capability to earn money, Li said.

The tea factory divided its profits into two parts, with 40 percent put back into the factory and 60 percent used to aid local people, award public service jobs and support the local tea industry. These measures include paying into relief funds for the elderly, the handicapped, patients and stay-at-home children, and paying salaries to the forest rangers and sanitation workers who live in villages to cooperate with the factory, Li said.

The factory has created new jobs for young workers, she added.

In the next three to five years, Geely will invest 400 to 600 million yuan in Leishan to support the local economy's development, said Song Zhaohuan, head of Geely's public relations department.

China lifted 13.86 million people in rural areas out of poverty last year, and aims to lift no less than 10 million people out of poverty this year.

The country has set a goal to eradicate poverty by 2020, the target year to complete the building of a "moderately prosperous society in all respects."