Beijing fund lifts 1.7m out of poverty

Beijing has invested 18.96 billion yuan ($2.88 billion) in a fund for poor counties since 2012, helping to lift 1.7 million people out of poverty, it was announced on Wednesday.

Ma Xinming, director of the Beijing Aid and Cooperation Office, released the figures at a seminar on the capital's poverty relief work attended by 110 representatives, including officials, scholars and entrepreneurs.

Beijing provides assistance to 78 counties in eight provincial areas, including the Xinjiang Uygur and Tibet autonomous regions and Qinghai province, Ma said.

The capital has established 2,650 poverty relief projects in partner counties since 2012, with donations reaching 400 million yuan, he said.

Some 1,442 experts from different professions have also been sent out to develop poverty stricken areas, while 16,640 people from partner counties have attended training programs in Beijing, he added.

Zhang Yi contributed to this story.