China's Guangxi lifts 1.25m out of poverty in 2019

NANNING -- South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region lifted 1.25 million people out of poverty and delisted 1,268 poor villages in 2019, according to preliminary statistics from the regional poverty-relief office.

Guangxi has identified the relocation of 710,000 people from inhospitable areas during the 13th Five-year Plan period (2016-2020) as a key battle against poverty.

By the end of November this year, the region had largely completed the relocation program and moved a total of 707,400 local residents to places with better living conditions, according to Tan Feng, deputy director of the region's reservoir and poverty alleviation and relocation center.

"In the past, I never dreamed of living in such a good house," said Gan Lian in a local resettlement area. Her family of seven moved from the mountainous area to a new 114.9-square meter house in August 2018. While her husband works elsewhere and earns over 4,000 yuan (about $572) a month, her child attends a nearby school and she works for a local firm earning around 50 yuan a day.

The region also received financial support of 1.76 billion yuan from neighboring Guangdong province this year. A total of 1,410 Guangdong enterprises have invested 13.86 billion yuan in Guangxi and built 33 poverty alleviation industrial parks and 337 workshops, benefiting 101,800 poor people.