Many villagers in a remote village in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality have moved to two-floor houses from shabby hovels, as they have become richer through growing chilies in recent years.[Special coverage]
Shangjin Village is in a poverty-stricken and mountainous area in Shizhu County, a national-level poor county with more than 70 percent of its population being ethnic Tujia people.
Nearly 400 households of the village have participated in a chili planting cooperative, established by Tan Jianlan with the support of the local government.
"Chili plantation has played an important role in reducing poverty in the county. I would like to share my experience with more people," said Tan, a deputy to the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), the national legislature.
At the ongoing NPC session, she will suggest encouraging capital flows from cities to rural areas to bring more rural people out of poverty.
So far, Tan's cooperative has covered 10 neighboring impoverished villages including 840 households. The chili industry has helped increase the average income of each poor household to 11,000 yuan ( U.S. dollars).
In addition, the county has explored various ways to fight against poverty. Planting herbs and promoting rural tourism also benefit rural residents.
Seventy out of 85 impoverished villages have been lifted out of poverty there. The remaining 15 poor villages including over 13,000 people are expected to escape poverty by 2020.
China has made decisive progress in fight against poverty. More than 68 million people have been lifted out of poverty over the past five years, approximately equals to the population of France.
This year, China will reduce the poor rural population by over 10 million, Premier Li Keqiang said Monday when delivering a government work report at the first session of the 13th NPC.
Li emphasized that China would do more to support areas affected by extreme poverty, and the central budget's newly enlarged poverty reduction funds and related transfer payments would be weighted toward these areas.
By the year 2020, all rural residents living below the current poverty line will be lifted out of poverty.
The largest poverty alleviation campaign in the world's most populous country has been affirmed by the international society.
More than 760 million people, or around one in 10 people in the world, are estimated to be living below the international poverty line of 1.9 U.S. dollars per day.
The UN Millennium Development Goals Report 2015 shows that the proportion of people living in extreme poverty in China fell by half from 61 percent in 1990 to below 30 percent in 2002, and on down to 4.2 percent in 2014.
"China's experience in innovation and its successful track record in poverty alleviation can provide invaluable lessons for other developing countries," said Bill Gates, co-chair of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, noting that China was the largest contributor to the UN's Millennium Development Goals of halving the number of people in poverty worldwide.
According to the UN's sustainable development goals, eradicating extreme poverty globally need to be realized by 2030.
Wang Sangui, a professor with Renmin University, said those achievements in poverty alleviation that China has made were due to the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China and governments at all levels, who have been upholding the people-centered philosophy and pursuing the goal of building of a moderately prosperous society and common prosperity for everyone.
"With a clear goal, the central government and relevant departments can focus their efforts on solving the problem," Wang said, adding that more than 100 policies related to poverty relief had been rolled out.
"Meanwhile, the whole society has been taking part in the battle against poverty, including the private sector, NGOs and individuals," he said.
Wang said the government had been adjusting and improving anti-poverty policies in different periods and strengthening supervision over the anti-poverty work, which also ensured that the country would achieve its goal by 2020.
"China has provided a solution to the issue of poverty for the world. Many countries in South Asia and Africa have been inspired," Wang said.
Besides poverty alleviation, China could also share its experience in tackling financial risks and pollution.
Premier Li on Monday expressed strong confidence in the nation's economy and its ability to prevent systemic risks.
"China's economic and financial risks are on the whole manageable ... We are fully capable of forestalling systemic risk," Li said.
China will also continue efforts to prevent and control air, water and soil pollution in 2018.
Zhang Yesui, spokesperson for the annual session of the country's national legislature, said Sunday that China would build a stringent legal system to protect the environment.
