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Blair, Li to light 1,000 villages through solar power

By Hu Yang (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-08-25 14:36

Chinese kungfu star Jet Li and former British prime minister Tony Blair chat while visiting Baigong Village, in Guiyang, Aug 22, 2009. The village will be the first one to benefit from a project jointly launched by Blair's Climate Group and Li's One Foundation to use solar-powered LEDs to light 1,000 Asian and African villages in the next five years. [One Foundation]

Former British prime minister Tony Blair and Chinese kungfu star Jet Li jointly launched a project to use solar-powered LEDs to light the countryside while visiting Baigong Village, in Guiyang, the capital of southwestern China's Guizhou province on Aug 22.

Blair was representing the Climate Group, a non-profit he helped creat, and Jet Li represented One Foundation, which he founded and focuses on education, health, environmental, poverty projects and disaster relief.

Related readings:  Jet Li foundation allocates 300,000 yuan for Taiwan typhoon relief  With Jet Li-One Foundation charity  Li's foundation powers Sichuan walk  Blair and Jet Li sign cooperation plan on climate

Baigong village will be the first one among 1,000 Asian and African villages to benefit from the project in the coming five years.

During the first two years, the goal is for 400 Chinese villages to be lit by solar-powered LED lights. Over the following three years, another 600 villages in China, India and some African countries will also be lit through solar power.

The lighting project is the two organizations' first joint program since they signed a strategic cooperation memorandum in March. Initially, One Foundation will provide funds for the project, though as it expands, money will come from other financial organizations as well.