Village flourishes under dedicated poverty relief cadre

When Xie Liang was preparing to return to his original post after finishing his one-year assignment as a poverty relief cadre in Alingchao village in Qahar Right Wing Middle Banner, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, 57 villagers signed a petition requesting he stay.

"China has promised to eradicate poverty by 2020, and I wish I could stay till the last minute," said the 45-year-old Xie, now Party chief of the village, who residents say is key to Alingchao's economic development over the past three years.

Xie was working at the Communist Party of China History Research Center in the region when he learned in March 2015, about the poverty relief mission in Alingchao - a village where half of the population worked outside and 62 out of 104 families left in the village were impoverished. He offered to take on the task.