Information is a crucial factor

Huang Xiaohui, head of Ganggang village in the Xiangxi Tujia-Miao autonomous prefecture, Hunan province, rustled through a stack of villagers' employment profiles, searching for errors, such as blank spaces and missing digits in phone or ID numbers.

He noted them down on a piece of paper and double-checked with the residents before uploading the accurate information to the online database for the Labor Assistance Cooperation Initiative - a government-led pilot program that helps impoverished rural residents find work.

Accurate information and identification are the crucial factors in targeted poverty alleviation efforts. "Without knowing the exact figures, we would be steering blind," said Kuang Zoufei, Xiangxi's deputy chief.