New Lease on Life

Previously impoverished Yi ethnic minority benefits from income-generating initiatives

- Xia Yuanyuan

Yi ethnic women dressed in their traditional costumes are seen busy with embroidery at the communal square in Chengbai Thanksgiving Community. Government-built apartment blocks, which the local residents have relocated to, form a backdrop to the square.

The community, located in Yuexi County in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, southwest Sichuan Province, is the largest resettlement site in the county thanks to China’s poverty alleviation and relocation plan.

Built by the local government at a cost of $84 million, it was completed in September last year. Since then, 1,421 households (6,600 people) living in poverty at the nearby 38 farming villages in 17 townships have left their homes in the inhospitable mountains and resettled in the 1,440 new accommodation units.

Poverty alleviation through resettling impoverished population has been steadily carried out by China since 2012. Through scientific planning and careful site selection, infrastructure and community services have been strengthened in resettlement areas, significantly improving the living and working conditions of the relocated population.

Relocation is only the first step. Helping the poor achieve prosperity is what the government is now working for.

In the past, most of the young people in Liangshan Prefecture have left the mountains to work in urban areas, with children and old people left behind. As an important part of poverty alleviation campaign work, local government has taken various measures, including developing traditional handicrafts and fostering industries to help poor people find jobs at home.

Embroidering the future