Xi conducts anti-poverty inspection tour

Liu Kerui, a farmer of the Hui ethnic group who lives in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region, now leads a decent life with sustainable income in Hongde Village in the city of Wuzhong－thanks to the nation's poverty-relief relocation program.

Previously, the 47-year-old led a difficult life in a mountainous village in the city of Guyuan. Due to scarcity of water and other environmental problems in the area, Liu could not rely on farming to support his family, so he had to earn a living as a construction worker in Yinchuan, the capital of the autonomous region. He earned 20 yuan ($2.80) per day at that time, and his son had to trek in the mountains for hours to go to and from school.

Liu and his family left the village, which was inhospitable, in 2012.

When President Xi Jinping appeared at Liu's new home on Monday during an inspection tour of the autonomous region, the farmer excitedly showed the Chinese leader around and told him about the dramatic changes that had taken place in his life.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, looked at the courtyard, living room, bedrooms, kitchen and cowshed, inquiring about the jobs and income of Liu's family members as well as healthcare services and other social welfare available to them.

Xi also asked Liu and his wife if they had any difficulties and what they planned for the future.

Liu told Xi that his family shook off poverty in 2017 and his life is getting better and better. The total yearly income of his six-member family averages around 100,000 yuan ($14,150), Liu said, adding that his fellow villagers all give thumbs-up to the Party's policy and want to closely follow the CPC from the bottom of their hearts.

Xi expressed hope that the villagers could continue creating better lives for themselves.

The president conducted a three-day inspection tour in the autonomous region, a less-developed inland region in northwestern China. About 37 percent of the population is from the Hui ethnic group.

During the trip, Xi visited places, including the cities of Wuzhong and Yinchuan, to learn about efforts to coordinate epidemic control efforts with economic and social development, consolidate achievements in poverty reduction, strengthen ecological and environmental protection, and promote ethnic unity and progress.

Visiting the Jinhuayuan residential community in Wuzhong, where people of several ethnic groups live, Xi said all ethnic groups are part of the big family of the Chinese nation. No ethnic minority group should be left behind in the country's fight against poverty, in its building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and in its drive toward modernization, he added.

Poverty alleviation has been high on the agenda of Xi's inspection tours since he became the general secretary of the CPC Central Committee in 2012, as the nation aims to eliminate absolute poverty by the end of this year.

When he conducted inspection tours this year in Hubei, Zhejiang, Gansu, Shaanxi and Shanxi provinces, Xi also urged local governments to make all-out efforts to secure the goal of eliminating poverty as scheduled while containing the COVID-19 epidemic.

Xi's connections with the autonomous region can be traced back to 1997, when he was deputy Party chief of Fujian province in eastern China. Xi visited the region's Xihaigu area, one of the world's most uninhabitable places due to its dry climate, high mountains and generally harsh environment, in April 1997, when he was in charge of Fujian's effort to assist Ningxia in poverty relief. He proposed a resettlement program, under which entire village communities in poorer areas would be moved to more fertile land.

Under such a poverty-relief program, around 233,000 poverty-stricken people have been relocated to the centralized resettlement site in Wuzhong and live a better life. The remaining 18,800 people in the autonomous region will be lifted out of poverty this year, according to Xinhua News Agency.

Xi also visited the autonomous region in 2008 and 2016, inspecting the progress of poverty reduction in the region.

At a meeting attended by local Party and government officials in Yinchuan on Wednesday before concluding his inspection tour, Xi stressed resolutely winning the battle against poverty by addressing prominent problems and weak links and sparing no effort to ensure that poverty alleviation goals are accomplished on schedule.

He called for efforts to help relocated villagers to secure a stable life and find ways to become better off, and asked local governments to advance the integration of the elimination of poverty with the implementation of the rural vitalization strategy.

Xi also underlined the importance of upholding the concept that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets", and called for continuous efforts to make progress in the battle to keep skies blue, waters clear and land pollution-free, and to push forward ecological and environmental protection.