Guangxi: developing a more open economy and eradicating poverty

During the third session of the 12th National People’s Congress in Beijing on March 8, 2015, President Xi Jinping urged officials in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region to accelerate its opening-up and make more efforts on poverty eradication.

President Xi emphasized that Guangxi should take the historic opportunity, as the region plays a key role in the country’s fast-advancing Belt and Road Initiative.

He added that targeted measures should be taken to help people lift themselves out of poverty, and that poverty alleviation work should be done in a timely and down-to-earth manner.

In implementing the demands of President Xi Jinping, Guangxi has been building new transportation routes by land and sea, as well as focusing its efforts against poverty, especially the mountainous areas.

The construction of Qinzhou East Railway Station at the Port of Qinzhou is one example.

The station recently welcomed the 1,200th train after its foundation 4 years ago. It has become an important route connecting many places like Chongqing in Chinese mainland with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

“Through the new sea-railway combined transportation route, it will only take 10 days to arrive at Singapore from Chongqing and then the Beibu Gulf. This is 20 days shorter than before,” said Liu Yi with the Shanghai Zhonggu Xinliang Logistics.

The Beibu Gulf in Guangxi has been open to navigation with over 100 countries and regions in the world and the total cargo handling capacity has surpassed 200 million tons.

“We have been firmly implementing the demands of President Xi Jinping by accelerating the construction of the gates to sea and the exchanges between Guangxi and other regions in west China,” said Tan Xiuhong, vice director of Department of Commerce of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

In terms of the battle against poverty in the mountainous areas of Guangxi, the regional government sent working groups in the villages and registered the specific problems of 5,000 villages.

In 2015, 158 households in the Xinli Village in Tianyang County were moved from the mountain tops to the outskirts of the city with the successful development of “leisure agriculture” at the village.

“Many foreign tourists, including those from France and Spain, are attracted to our village by the beautiful mountains and rivers here,” said Li Tingting, villager from Xinli Village in Tianyang County.

In Dawen Village in the city of Jingxi, villagers have been given a seed fund of 500,000 yuan to help them develop agriculture.

“It only took me 2 days to get a loan of 30,000 yuan from the government, which is really fast,” said Luo Honggong from Dawen Village, Jingxi City.

In 2018, Guangxi launched a three-year-plan against poverty in the extreme poor areas and among special groups. Based on the plan, 1,150 villages and 21 counties are being pulled off the poverty list.