Editor’s Note: This is the 11th of a series of reports on poverty alleviation in the city’s 14 impoverished counties and districts. 2020 marks the final stage of China’s war against poverty alleviation and aims 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- In the remote mountains of Chongqing, Chengkou County is nearly 400 kilometers from the city center. Through introducing talents, advancing the locals’ technical ability, improving the local environment as well as adopting systematic measures to rectify uncivilized behaviors, the incidence of poverty in Chengkou County has dropped from 15.6% in 2014 to 0.42% at the end of 2019.

Chengkou County locates in the Northeast of Chongqing, standing in the junction of Chongqing, Sichuan, and Shanxi. The city got its name due to its location, which means the port area of town. 

According to Jilin Kan, the Secretary of CPC at Chengkou County Party Committee, Chengkou County is one of the four municipal deep poverty counties in Chongqing. However, Chengkou County managed to officially withdraw from the impoverished counties’ rank in February this year, and per capita, disposable income increased from 6,491 yuan in 2014 to 10,404 yuan at the end of 2019 in rural areas.

“One of the methods we have proposed is to mobilize cadres and experts, and introduce projects into Chengkou County, leading the locals to work tirelessly to eradicate poverty and backwardness, so that rural residents can soon live in a prosperous and happy life,” said Kan. Kan mentioned that 223 outstanding young cadres and 462 experts from different professions were selected to towns and villages. Driven by the cultivation of outstanding cadres and experts, many rural local talents have emerged throughout the county, gradually solving the problem of rural talent shortage.

In Kan’s perspective, solving key poverty problems is inseparable from advancing the locals’ technical ability and cultivating their capabilities to make a living. Through implementing the project of “one household, one person, one skill,” the county carried out training for a total of 25,000 people, ensuring at least one person from each low-income family has mastered one practical skill. This allows multiple benefits to be achieved, especially in stabilizing employment, prosperity in industries, promotion in health, and an increase in income.

“When it comes to the local environment, Chengkou has been making progress in reforming the county’s rural residential environment,” said Kan. “Nearly 24,000 houses, ditches, kitchens, toilets, and courtyards were renovated, with a better living condition provided to the locals,” Kan adds, this sufficiently solved the problem of dirty and poor rural human settlements environment in the county.

Kan also thinks, through adopting legal norms, implementing statute constraints, and raising the locals’ awareness to behave in a civilized manner, the rectification of practices in drinking, gambling, laziness, dirtiness, and unhealthiness has been effectively curbed. “Since last year, we have vigorously promoted the construction of civilization practice centers, stations, and institutes in the county,” said Kan. “This further strengthens our efforts made in poverty alleviation, which results in significant changes to the local peoples’ lives.”

From Aug. 25 to Oct. 20, the 14 counties and districts of Wanzhou, Qianjiang, 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.