Ningxia's poverty-alleviation effort pays dividends

Dramatic changes have taken place in Ningxia Hui autonomous region in the past 10 years with around 803,000 residents across the region lifted out from absolute poverty, said Li Jinke, a member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Ningxia Committee and head of the publicity department.

The region has invested 75 percent of its fiscal resources in the improvement of people's livelihood over the past decade, giving priority to relocating the poor for a better life and implementing Internet Plus strategy to develop education and healthcare services.

"All those efforts have strengthened the sense of achievement, happiness and security of residents in both urban and rural areas in Ningxia," he said.

Li added that during the same period, the income of people from poor areas in Ningxia has been risen 2.6 times, a growth rate higher than the figure of urban residents' income and that of farmers' income in the region.

"With a bulging wallet, the people are leading an affluent life," Li said.

He said the region's economic growth rate was the fastest in the country in the first half of this year. Next, the region will take action to improve people's income, literacy rate and health level, upgrade education as well as improve the ecological environment in both urban and rural areas, Li added.