Bama Yao autonomous county in Hechi, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region has been promoting road construction in recent years to make it easier for villagers to travel, bolstering its poverty alleviation efforts.

Bama, located at the Dashi mountainous area, has harsh living conditions. Since 2016, the county has invested 547.66 million yuan ($77.65 million) in the construction of 556 village-to-village roads, totaling a length of 1,063.42 kilometers.

Twenty-six roads were renovated with an investment of 41.2 million yuan since 2016, while 276 roads, with a total length of 100.63 km, in the county’s villages were hardened, funded with 35.69 million yuan. A total of 6.49 million yuan was used to construct eight bridges in the county.

To date, villages in the county that have 20 or more households have had hardened roads connecting with each other, including the 57 impoverished villages.

The road improvement has set off a fresh surge of entrepreneurial activities, developing characteristic industries in the county.

To date, 60 industrial bases or parks and 19 family farms have been built up in the county’s 57 impoverished villages, with the coverage rate of characteristic industries exceeding 90 percent, helping increase incomes of impoverished rural families.

The number of households who chose to develop the industries of pigs, chickens, beef cattle, goats, bamboo rats, and edible mushrooms totaled 3,130 in the county’s 57 impoverished villages.