Uniting against poverty to sow seeds of success

The per capita disposable income of farmers alone reached 8,208 yuan, a net increase of 4,173 yuan over 2013, with an average annual growth rate of 10.4 percent.

On Feb 28, the provincial government affirmed that the county had been lifted from poverty.

Zhang Zhenya, deputy secretary of the county Party committee in charge of poverty alleviation work, said a multi-pronged development approach includes tapping leading industries to expand industrial channels and services to help ensure and raise incomes.

Funds allocated to poverty alleviation work in the county reached 1.77 billion yuan, with the poverty rate reduced to 0.43 percent, Zhang said.

"We will work on innovation toward stable income mechanisms and the distribution model of the village economy," Zhang said.

At least 24 agricultural investment companies, 32 major enterprises and 1,500 specialized farmer cooperatives have since been developed, with more than 20,000 needy farmers encouraged to take part in targeted production, according to the local government.

In terms of educational improvements, the county's nine-year compulsory education consolidated rate has also reached 99.39 percent, rising 18.9 percentage points from that of 2013.

As for healthcare, authorities recorded more than 330 million yuan invested in medical facilities and services, with three county-level hospitals moved to new premises, 16 township hospitals renovated and at least 142 standardized village clinics set up, with the medical insurance participation rate of urban and rural residents hitting nearly 99 percent.

Under housing developments, nearly 290 million yuan has been invested to refurbish more than 17,800 dilapidated rural homes, while 780 million yuan has been used to help resettle about 6,700 households totaling more than 32,600 people to ensure safe living conditions.

The county has also rolled out the construction of a major Tianjiahe photovoltaic industrial park by injecting poverty alleviation funds of 4.2 million yuan, providing 2 megawatts of full grid power generation. The photovoltaic industry has since earned at least 720,000 yuan in the past three years, with the county investing another 390,000 yuan to help build morel-planting symbiotic infrastructure support for the village.