Chinese President Xi Jinping inspected the local poverty alleviation work in Laoxian Township, Pingli County of Ankang, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, on Tuesday.

Xi mainly inspected four places, a community, a township hospital, a primary school and a tea park. All inspection tours in these places have deep meaning, directly relating to the current key tasks of poverty alleviation and resumption of work, production and classes.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, inspects the local poverty alleviation work in Jinping Community of Laoxian Township, Pingli County of the city of Ankang, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, April 21, 2020. (Photo: Xinhua)

Located in the border area of Shaanxi Province, Hubei Province and Chongqing City, Laoxian Township is endowed with a rich history and natural beauty. Today, with poverty alleviation work orderly carried out, the old township has shined a positive light.

“Community factory” adapted for the locals

Xi first visited the township’s Jinping community, now home to 1,346 households that have been relocated from hilly, geological disaster-prone or poverty-stricken areas across the town.

Jinping community (Photos: CCTV News)

How to provide employment for these low-income migrants? Pingli County has explored a new mode of "community factory" employment for poverty alleviation: equipping the communities of migrants with factories through investment promotion, and encouraging the residents to work nearby. At present, 83 community factories have been set up in Pingli County, bringing more than 6,000 jobs to the poor.

Most of the residents in Jinping community lived in remote and poverty-stricken areas. This is the old house before a resident moved into Jinping community.

E-commerce has also integrated the traditional industries in Jinping community with robust online stores, further opening up the way to shake off poverty.

E-commerce has become a major channel to drive local people out of poverty.

On March, Xi stressed the resumption of work should be accelerated considering the employment challenge brought by COVID-19 epidemic. Now 79 out of 83 factories have been restored to work.

Educational and medical security and resumption

With care for the quality of local education and medical services, two hardcore standards in the poverty alleviation work, Xi visited a local township hospital and a primary school.

Laoxian Township Hospital is a designated hospital for medical insurance of local urban and rural residents, where the basic medical care, public health, health poverty alleviation and other work for more than 20,000 people in and around the area are carried out. The long-distance consultation rooms are set up for communication with medical centers in Ankang and provides better service to the patients.

Laoxian Township Hospital

Xi also attached great importance to the decisive role of education in the rural revitalization and sustainable development. Although the epidemic imposed some challenges to the local people, education in the Laoxian Township Centre Primary School has been orderly resumed. The time of students’ access and dining is scheduled, and the temperature of faculties and students is monitored regularly. Last year, according to the targeted poverty alleviation policy, subsidies for nearly 200 poor students were paid on time.

Students in the class of the Laoxian Township Centre Primary School.

“Agriculture + tourism” in full swing

Xi then visited a tea farm of the township, with an area of 800,000 meters square. Last year, the park produced 15 tons of green tea and gained an output of 4 million yuan (about $564,700). More than 300 people from more than 100 poor households work in the park, with an annual per capita income increase of more than 1,100 yuan.

A tea park in Laoxian Township

Xi pointed out that local people should make full use of their resources and promoting specialty industries to achieve the poverty alleviation during his tour to Shaanxi in 2015. Today, the integrated development of tea and tourism in Laoxian Township, attracting a lot of visitors and huge profits, reflects the great importance Xi has attached to the cause of poverty alleviation.

(Compiled by Dong Yujie; Original story from CCTV News)