Improving Lives
Forty years of reform and opening up helps drive poverty reduction in China and globally
li Naluo still remembers how isolated and poor her native village was not so long ago: a few thatched huts, no roads or electricity, secluded in the mountains of south China’s Yunnan Province. Who would have thought that a few years later, this poor village would rise like a phoenix from the ashes?
“After the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 2012, targeted measures for poverty alleviation have transformed our village. With the help of the government and the efforts of our villagers, we built new homes and a road, installed streetlights and solar panels. Our lives have been transformed,” said Li.
$7,300 China’s current per capita income comparing to $300 in 1978
Villagers, who mainly belong to the Lahu ethnic group, even managed to develop their own artistic troupe.
“Singing, dancing and playing music are part of the Lahu people’s traditions. Several people from the village and I have created a troupe to spread our traditional culture,” said Li, deputy chief of the troupe.
Since its creation in September 2013, the troupe has welcomed more than 114,200 tourists and held 895 shows, generating a total of 8 million yuan ($1.15 million) in tourism revenue. Of this amount, 2.26 million yuan ($320,000) were distributed to villagers as their dividends, lifting 383 people out of poverty.
Since the 18th CPC National Congress, which mobilized the entire