One of Hong Kong's largest non-governmental poverty relief organizations on Thursday donated 60.11 million yuan ($8.67 million) to Nanjiang county in Sichuan province to help alleviate poverty by improving its agricultural and educational development, as well as healthcare and care for the elderly.

The agreement was signed in the special administrative region by representatives of the Hong Kong Poverty Alleviation Association and officials of the city government of Bazhong, Sichuan, during the second Sichuan-Hong Kong-Macao Cooperation Week which started on Wednesday.

The funds came from various companies and a cross section of Hong Kong society. The association initially aims to raise a total of 100 million yuan for Nanjiang, which is under Bazhong city located in northeastern Sichuan, bordering Shaanxi province.

The money is aimed at lifting 19,500 people from 45 villages in Nanjiang out of poverty by the end of this year, said Karson Choi Ka-tsan, HKPAA president and a Hong Kong member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference - the country's top political advisory body.

The funds will be used in various fields, including the goat raising industry, improvement of education and healthcare facilities, financial support for children, deployment of Hong Kong medical personnel to Nanjiang, and the construction of a nursing home for the elderly.

Nanjiang is listed among the country's 679 counties in poverty, and is the first county in Sichuan to receive support from the newly founded HKPAA.

The association's poverty relief work in Nanjiang was provided for in a memorandum of cooperation signed with the Bazhong government in May this year during the Hong Kong-Sichuan Cooperation Conference in Sichuan.

It was in response to the nation's call to lift more than 300 million people out of poverty by 2020.

The HKPAA comprises Hong Kong members of the CPPCC National Committee, local deputies to the National People's Congress, provincial and municipal CPPCC members and entrepreneurs.

The association is the city's first non-governmental group dedicated to alleviating poverty on the mainland. It is supported by the Hong Kong SAR Government and the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR.

heshusi@chinadailyhk.com

(HK Edition 11/09/2018 page4)