Two women from Haidong, Qinghai province, show skills of local embroidery. [Photo/WeChat account: wuxifabu2013]
Haidong, a city in Northwest China's Qinghai province, has made significant progress in poverty alleviation over the past four years, with over 175,700 people escaping poverty by the end of 2020 thanks to help provided by Wuxi in East China's Jiangsu province.
Wuxi has been helping Haidong to eliminate poverty since the end of 2016. For the past four years, funding of 820 million yuan ($125.2 million) has been spent by the government of Wuxi in promoting the economy, agriculture, education, tourism, healthcare and people's standard of living in Haidong.
The total investment is three times larger than the agreed fund and accounted for over 10 percent of the funds for poverty alleviation in Haidong, according to Haidong Daily.
A total of 116 projects have been carried out on Haidong's industrial development, including three agricultural industrial parks for planting vegetables, 11 plants working to produce blue embroidery and ethnic clothing, 64 characteristic industrial bases of selenium-enriched black garlic and Bamei pig breeding.
Students have lessons in Haidong. [Photo/WeChat account: wuxifabu2013]
In 2017, Wuxi's Huishan district invested in Qinghai Enlu Biotechnology Co to help expand production of black garlic in the city. The company offered free seeds and fertilizer to poor households, taught people how to plant them, and then bought the harvest above market price. The project benefited 905 poor households.
Haidong has also finished transformation of 553 village-level clinics, ensured the safety of drinking water in 239 villages, rebuilt roads in 166 villages, and repaired 23 school buildings.
China aims to achieve the goal of eradicating absolute poverty by 2020. Haidong is the poorest city in Qinghai province with the largest poverty area and most poor people.
The city was home to 634 impoverished counties at the end of 2015, with 175,700 people from 48,400 households living in poor conditions.
