Relocation makes Xinjiang farmers become better-off

Five people of Renaguli's family pose for pictures before eating breakfast on Feb.17, 2019. (Photo/Xinhua)

Last August, 1,149 Uygur families were relocated to the new village in Kashgar Prefecture, which is 94 kilometers from their hometown in Kizilsu Kirgiz Prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. A family of five people was among them.

The new house of Renaguli’s family has utilities such as natural gas, tap water, network, a cable television, a bathroom, and a refrigerator. “Now, we don’t have to go to pit toilets and fetch water from the river,” said Renaguli, who runs a grocery. Becoming better-off, the family asked to be removed from the list of impoverished households in early February.

A total of 537,000 people in poverty-stricken areas in Xinjiang were lifted out of poverty last year. Three counties and 513 villages were raised out of poverty. Thereby, poverty incidence in the region was reduced to 6.51 percent.