China's Second Largest Impoverished Area Shakes Off PovertyPeople in Wuling mountainous region, the second largest poverty-stricken area in China, have been relieved of poverty thanks to sustained efforts in comprehensive development.The region comprises 31 counties and districts in Chongqing Municipality and Hubei, Hunan and Guizhou provinces. Before China unveiled its national poverty elimination program, which aims to provide 80 million poor people with adequate food and clothing in seven years, there were approximately 7.21 million people living in poverty in the region. The annual per capita net income averaged 228 yuan. To date, the annual per capita net income in the region has risen to 1,260 yuan and the food grain consumed by each farmer climbed to 425 kg, Wan Guorui, vice-minister of agriculture, said at a conference on recently in Chongqing, the largest metropolis in western China. Wan attributed the achievement to the large scale capital construction of farming in the area with assistance offered from the central and local governments, to the construction of more highways and expressways, to more telephones and power-operated facilities available and to the optimization of agricultural structure. |
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