A farmer works at an edible mushroom photovoltaic greenhouse in Minning Township in Yinchuan, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Aug. 17, 2018. Minning has converted from a town in Gobi desert to a modernized ecological relocation demonstration town over the past 21 years via a series of cooperation between Ningxia and southeast China's Fujian. Over 60,000 farmers in Xihaigu, an impoverished mountainous region in Ningxia, have been relocated to Minning. Cattle breeding, red raspberry planting, photovoltaic agriculture and export of labor forces provided a lot of job opportunities to local villagers. In 2017, per capita disposable income for farmers in Minning reached 11,976 yuan (about 1,742 U.S. dollars). Areas of China suffering from extreme poverty have made faster progress in terms of poverty relief compared to the country's average pace in 2018, an official has said. The country has earnestly pushed ahead with poverty relief efforts in areas burdened by extreme poverty this year, said Liu Yongfu, director of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development. Central and local governments have rolled out policies to enhance support for such areas around the country, Liu said. "At present, related plans and tasks are going ahead as scheduled, with some having been completed in advance," he added. Next, China will tackle certain issues that keep people trapped in poverty, Liu said, citing measures including offering support for job hunting, providing public service jobs and ensuring social policy support for vulnerable groups. Since 1978, China has lifted 740 million people out of poverty, reducing the poverty headcount ratio by 94.4 percentage points. The country is committed to lifting the entire poor rural population out of poverty by 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Junxi)
