China strives to help relocated poor embrace better life

By rolling out various measures, including launching vocational training, developing featured industries, and providing financial support, China is working to consolidate the results of poverty alleviation relocation and ensure that the relocated residents can secure jobs and become better-off.

Relocation is essential for bringing leapfrog development to the Chinese people in inhospitable areas, and an important approach to the country’s victory in its fight against poverty.

From 2016 to 2020, China relocated more than 9.6 million registered impoverished residents, and built about 35,000 resettlement areas for them.

Luo Yoinghe used to live in Doudi village, Huishui county, southwest China’s Guizhou province. Five years ago, he and his fellow villagers were relocated to a community in the economic development zone of Huishui county.

After Luo was elected as the secretary of the Party branch of the community in December 2016, he made a decision to find jobs for all relocated residents.

He started a night school that provided 15-day vocational training programs. Based on an investigation into the literacy and educational background of the residents, the night school tailored different training plans to suit different groups and desired jobs. It is estimated that the night school’s training programs are joined around 1,200 times each year.

To provide better employment services, the community has also established a labor service company to match job seekers to enterprises.

Among all 5,935 residents at the community, 3,123 have secured jobs, or at least two in each family.

“We have more than 400 enterprises around us, as well as six poverty alleviation workshops in the community. The per capita monthly income stands at around 3,000 yuan ($459) to 4,000 yuan,” said Luo.

According to him, the average annual per capita income of the village was less than 3,000 yuan in 2016, and has hit 14,800 yuan today.

“We shall work harder on employment to better revitalize the countryside and improve the wellbeing of people,” he added.

In 2016, Jiangbei township of Ganzhou, east China’s Jiangxi province built a relocation site in its Jiangbei village, which is adjacent to a national highway. Near the relocation site, the township government established a three-storey poverty alleviation workshop with a total area of nearly 1,200 square meters which was later rented by an electronics manufacture producing earphone cables and data cables for smart phones.

It was in this workshop that 55-year-old Huang Liuzhao, who moved from the mountainous village of Laiyuan, Jiangbei township to the relocation site, secured a job that earns him over 3,000 yuan each month.

So far, Jiangbei township has established seven industrial bases for poverty alleviation. A total of 158 relocated residents from 28 households in the township have benefited from local industries, and 99 have secured jobs.