Guangdong lifted 1.615 million impoverished people out of poverty

Guangdong has lifted 1.615 million impoverished people and 2,277 impoverished villages out of poverty, said Gu Xingwei, director-general of Guangdong Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural areas at a press conference regarding the province's rural revitalization held Thursday.

To achieve that, more than 160 billion RMB has been invested and 65,000 cadres have been stationed in villages, Gu added.

Under the government-led training projects for Cantonese cuisine chefs, mechanics and housekeepers, a total of 7.97 million people have been trained, helping with employment and starting up business for 2.47 million people.

The per capita disposable income of rural residents exceeded 20,000 RMB, with the income ratio between urban and rural residents narrowing to below 2.5.

In terms of the overall agricultural production, the gross output of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fisheries has been increased to 836.9 billion RMB in 2021 from 596.9 billion RMB in 2017 with the added value of that climbing from 371.2 billion RMB in 2017 to 516.9 billion RMB in 2021.

Priorities have been given to ensure food security and supply of important agricultural products. Guangdong now has an average annual grain production of more than 12 million tons. The province has also set a world record of 1,537.8 kilograms per mu (Chinese unit of land, one mu equals one-fifteenth of a hectare) of double-season rice in South China.

Guangdong has also pioneered a marketing system for the sales of agricultural products. With a big data platform, online fairs and exhibitions, the province has been striving to bring the global markets its high-quality agricultural products. Also, following the new consumption trend, it is advancing the development of digital agriculture, agricultural tourism and other industrial modes.

The improvement of the rural habitat environment has also seen great progress. The coverage rate of the improved rural habitat environment has been raised to over 99.8% from 62% in 2017 and the penetration rate of sanitary toilets exceeded 95%.

The construction of rural roads also plays an important role in rural revitalization. In the past five years, the province has constructed and reconstructed 63,000 kilometers of country roads, adding the total mileage of rural roads in Guangdong to 183,600 kilometers. All administrative towns and villages now have access to bus services.