As of today, Zhanjiang has raised 3.1 billion yuan ($454.9 million) for a specialized poverty alleviation fund to support impoverished locals with the ability to work, announced the Zhanjiang Poverty Alleviation Office on Aug 25. 

The fund is subject to a unified arrangement by the county government instead of being distributed to individuals directly. It will be used to upgrade production facilities, foster distinctive industries, support employment, increase residents' income, and meet the basic medical and educational needs of the area.

An impoverished village in Zhanjiang takes on a new look. [Photo/Zhanjiang Daily]

It is better to teach a man to fish than to give him fish. The fund is aimed at helping increase people's confidence in their own abilities to lift themselves out of poverty and improving their access to education and medical care.

Zhanjiang is home to about 240,000 impoverished people, accounting for one seventh of the province's total. Faced with an arduous situation, the city has given top priority to poverty alleviation work.

The city has not only sent elite officials to rural areas and drawn on their wisdom to help reduce poverty, but has also helped impoverished villages foster pillar industries and select Zhanjiang Poverty Alleviation Star Products.

From 2016 to 2017, more than 150,000 locals had risen out of poverty, with the poverty-stricken population in the city dropping to 87,900 people. 

Rural students learn to use computers at a newly built computer lab. [Photo/Zhanjiang Daily]