Editor's Note: This is the second of a series of reports on poverty alleviation in the Chongqing's 14 impoverished counties and districts. 2020 marks the final stage of China's war against poverty alleviation and the aim to build a moderately prosperous society in all aspects, the Chongqing Municipal Information Office organized 14 press conferences to showcase each county and district's poverty alleviation efforts and achievements.

Chongqing- On the morning of Aug. 27, a press conference themed "Qianjiang Spirit Opens New Chapter for Targeted Poverty Alleviation" was held at the Press Conference Hall in Chongqing News Center. Yu Changming, Party chief of Qianjiang, used "3x3 measures" and "4 changes" to summarize the highlights in their poverty alleviation performance, and expressed firm determination to put Qianjiang at a center stage in Southeast Chongqing for urban and economic development.

Secretary of the CPC Qianjiang District Committee (M) and District Mayor (R2) attending the event.

"Qianjiang was taken off of the national-level impoverished counties list in 2017, and has since been hailed as an exemplary district for 'poverty alleviation case study' by the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development," said Yu at the press conference. "As of the end of 2019, 11,580 poor households or 44,683 poor villagers had been lifted out of poverty, and all of the district's 65 impoverished villages had been taken off of the list, with the poverty occurrence rate dropping from 13% to 0.05% in only five years."

A doctor from a township hospital was visiting a villager for a health checkup.

To help villagers get rid of their poor people mentality, the local government organized over 3,000 motivational activities and events featuring inspiring storytelling lectures of self-made locals; to address their lack of political representation, educational resource, and health care accessibility, a total of 5,052 official cadres, 2,327 rural teachers and 1,248 doctors and nurses have been sent to help in these impoverished areas. To train their professional skills and promote employment, such measures as School-Enterprise Collaboration, Field Study Classroom, Employment Assistant Month and Hundred Enterprises Village Recruitment were taken to help villagers make a living.

A signing ceremony of the CITIC Group with the local government to invest in rural tourism.

Qianjiang has also made groundbreaking achievements in implementing poverty alleviation measures suited to local conditions, turning its disadvantages to advantages. By developing mountain-based specialty industries like "tobacco + vegetable," "forestry + vegetable," "crop + loache" and "mulberry + fungus," the local rural residents have significantly increased their annual disposable income to 12,975 yuan in 2019, up 64.7% from 2014; by giving full play to its 65% forestry coverage rate and 350 good-air-quality days a year, 8 national AAAA scenic spots have been created, with an annual tourism revenue growth of over 40% for three consecutive years; by investing 150 million yuan to facilitate the transfer and relocation of rural residents living in ecologically-fragile and polluted areas, the largest relocation settlement have been established in a suburban industrial park, accommodating 413 poor households or 1531 poor villagers; and by collaborating with all levels of government departments, public institutions and enterprises, like the Rizhao Municipal Government in Shandong Province, the Yongchuan District Government in Chongqing Municipality, the Chongqing Municipal Heath Commission and the CITIC Group, Qianjiang has experimented many practical and fruitful approaches to tackle poverty alleviation.

A bird's eye view of the summer resort tourist spot in Qianjiang's Shuishi Village.

"Poverty alleviation isn't the finishing line for Qianjiang, but a new starting point for further economic growth," said Yu near the end of the press conference. "Next, we will continue to focus on the organic integration of poverty alleviation and rural revitalization, fulfilling the historic mission of building Qianjiang into a modern and prosperous city of strategic importance in Southeast Chongqing."

From Aug. 25 to Oct. 20, the 14 counties and districts of Wanzhou, Qinjiang, Wulong, Fengdu, Xiushan, Kaizhou, Yunyang, Wushan, Fengjie, Shizhu, Chengkou, Wuxi, Youyang, and Pengshui will come forward and hold press conferences on their progress in poverty alleviation.