Poverty Relief Alliance

and grasslands.

Since the Song Dynasty (960-1279), however, Xihaigu has gradually deteriorated into a drought-ridden and barren area due to climate change, wars, excessive logging, and reclamation for farming. In the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), it was already known nationwide for its extreme poverty.

The Central Government continues to channel funds and other assistance into the region to boost animal husbandry and the farming of more lucrative crops such as mushrooms, daylilies and asparagus, as well as setting up over 300 workshops that employ mostly women.

Official data show that the population living in poverty in Ningxia, most of whom were from

Xihaigu, decreased from 1.19 million in 1982 to 18,800 at the end of 2019.

Xihaigu’s natural environment is also in recovery, thanks to largescale afforestation. Statistics show that the forest coverage rate in Guyuan increased from 1.4 percent in the 1970s to 28.4 percent in 2019, and the vegetation coverage rate exceeded 70 percent.

An alliance for poverty relief and development along the Belt and Road was set up in Yunnan Province in southwest China on November 17 to promote the sharing of experiences.

The Alliance of Poverty Reduction and Development, approved by the Alliance of

and transparency compared to traditional methods of donating.

China has 7,169 registered charity organizations with 172 million volunteers across the country. Information on over 3.9 million volunteer projects has been made public and volunteers have rendered more than 2.19 billion hours of service.

Autonomous Region rose by 25 percent from 10.17 million in 2010 to 12.72 million in 2018, or an increase of 2.55 million over eight years, Zhao Lijian, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on November 16.

The growth rate is about twice the 14-percent growth rate of the overall Xinjiang population, and is significantly higher than the 2-percent growth rate of the Han population, Zhao stated during a press briefing.