The homestay buildings on water in Shuiji village, Meikou township, Taining county, Sanming, East China's Fujian province [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

Having transformed from a poverty-stricken area to the top tourist destination of Sanming city, East China's Fujian province, Shuiji village has witnessed great progress in its regional economy thanks to the company-based management model it has implemented in recent years.

Shuiji village, situated in Meikou township, Taining county, enjoys a natural advantage in tourism over other villages thanks to its location beside the Dajinhu Lake, a national 5A-Level (top level) scenic area of the province.

However, previously, this situation was not taken advantage of properly, as local residents conducted their own tourist business in a disorderly way, resulting in poor management, vicious competition and the exhaustion of local resources.

The situation changed, fortunately, from 2004 when the local authorities started to establish three special associations to exercise unified management over the local fishing, homestay, and sightseeing boat businesses.

Specifically, the associations set up companies to run these businesses based on unified resource utilizing, operation and pricing, and encouraged local residents to be the shareholders, optimizing the local tourism business structure, lifting ecological burden and increasing residents' income.

Official statistics show that the village's fiscal revenue reached more than 1 million yuan ($140,000) in 2018, and the annual income per capita was 5,000 yuan more than the average county level.

Local residents enjoy a good fish harvest in Shuiji village. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

More than 270 jobs have been created for local residents and 200 poor families of the village and neighboring villages have been lifted out of poverty over the years. The village has also been honored as a national model village for poverty alleviation by tourism.