Party chief builds model village for poverty alleviation

China also uses a resettlement program to help lift rural residents out of poverty.

To better understand life deep in the Taihang Mountains, which run down the eastern edge of the Loess Plateau in Shanxi, Henan and Hebei provinces, Pei Chunliang traveled there.

He found out four villages of 453 households with a population of 1,798 still lived in the mountains at an elevation of more than 900 meters. It was impossible for them to get out of poverty on their own.

Pei Chunliang donated 80 million yuan to the local government-supported relocation project and raised more than 500 million yuan to build a tourist resort in Xinxiang city, Henan province. Some of the resettled villagers worked at the resort. Some 2,000 people living on the outskirts of the resort started their own businesses such as bed and breakfasts, restaurants and souvenir shops.

At a meeting to mark China's poverty alleviation accomplishments and honor the role models held in Beijing on Oct 17, 2020, Pei Chunliang was an award recipient.