As of the end of July 2020, CDB had granted industrial poverty-alleviation loans worth 119.6 billion yuan, a 198% year-over-year increase; it has so far granted a total amount of 356 billion yuan in 460,000 loans for the poor. 53.2 billion yuan in the loan program is granted to area of extreme poverty like the “three regions and prefectures” as designated by the Chinese central government, effectively supporting poverty relief efforts and the long-term mechanism that prevents returning to poverty in these areas.
Housing over 10,000 people, the Huanghuatan Ecological Migration Zone is the largest poverty alleviation relocation settlement in Gulang County of Wuwei City in Gansu Province. To ensure that the relocated residents can settle down, have jobs, and earn an income, CDB Gansu Branch has developed flexible loan programs that combine platform-lending with direct lending in support of the employment of these relocated residents with higher income by promoting industrial development, with a focus on livestock and crop farming and other industries with distinctive local features. On one hand, CDB has been working with local financial institutions to grant transferred loans worth 80 million yuan to local SMEs, cooperatives, and large family farms since 2019, aiming to grow livestock farming with distinctive local features. On the other hand, direct loans of 200 million yuan are issued to build the Gulang Cold and Dry-land Farming Demonstration Zone along the Modern Silk Road and in close proximity to the relocation site. The move is intended to unify product quality standards and establish the production-distribution chain so as to expand, unify and strengthen the local agriculture industry. More importantly, it will enhance the competitiveness of distinctive local produce and bring jobs to relocated residents. With a comprehensive combination of measures, CDB has effectively promoted industries such as cattle and sheep breeding, and vegetables growing, laying a solid foundation for steady alleviation of poverty in the long run.
Lushui City in Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture, located in the big canyon below Biluo Snow Mountain and Gaoligong Mountain, with the Nujiang River running through it, is one of the nine counties in Yunnan Province remaining in poverty to be tackled with focused efforts. The complicated natural environment featuring high mountains, deep valleys and scanty plain farmland has been a major hindrance to the local economic development. To facilitate the local poverty reduction initiatives and development of a characteristic industrial chain supported by regional brands, CDB Yunnan Branch has been actively supporting the construction of the Nujiang River Mountain Spring Drinking Water Plant (Phase 1). The CDB branch has made focused efforts to push forward rational development and utilization of premium natural resources in Lushui City while seeking a long-term mechanism to increase the local residents’ income and lift them out of poverty through development of natural resources. To be located close to the poverty alleviation relocation settlement in Dalongtang Town of Lushui City, the drinking water plant will, upon agreement with the town government and village committee, give preferential job opportunities to local labor both during its construction and after being put to use so that the relocated residents can work near their homes. In this way, the project is expected to maximize the poverty alleviation benefits by means of industrial development. According to the employment agreements signed with local residents during the construction process, each employed local resident is promised an annual income of over 26,000 yuan, an important step towards steady poverty reduction and continuous income increase.
“The plant has provided a pleasant environment where I can work, learn and live happily. I feel my future is full of possibilities.” This is quoted from the diary written by Zhou, an employee with Tongkun Group based in Tongxiang, Zhejiang Province. Zhou comes from Yibin, Sichuan Province. It is due to the East-West Pairing-off Cooperation for Poverty Reduction program that she is able to work at Tongkun Group. The well-paid job has not only helped her family out of poverty, but presented her with professional training opportunities, which are essential for her career development. Confronted with the COVID-19 epidemic, CDB Zhejiang Branch has provided Tongkun Group with a special loan of 950 million yuan for the East-West Pairing-off Cooperation for Poverty Reduction program so that the company won’t suspend production or downsize staffing, but will recruit more employees from the western regions instead. This is how Zhou was able to get a job and turned over a new leaf. Since the beginning of 2020, CDB Zhejiang Branch has actively engaged the Zhejiang Provincial Development and Reform Commission and the Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security in establishing a poverty alleviation cooperation mechanism between the governments of Hangzhou, Wenzhou, and Jiaxing and their assisted western counterparts. With special loans issued for the poverty reduction program, the leading local enterprises involved are able to resume production, and recruit those registered as living in poverty from poverty-stricken areas. By stabilizing and expanding job opportunities, they have further enhanced their capabilities to support poverty alleviation. Through that mechanism, CDB has helped more than 1,200 poor people in the western regions get employed in Zhejiang Province.
Apple production in the Yan’an area accounts for about one-third of that in the whole Shaanxi Province, and nearly half of the income of local farmers comes from growing apples. However, the climate-related fluctuation of apple production and prices along with a lack of unified standards for the purchase, storage, and logistics among individual fruit retailers has brought about a serious problem that the fruit growers don’t see their income increasing despite their production growth. The cooperation between CDB Shaanxi Branch and Yan’an Municipal Government focuses on the purchase and storage of apples, with more importance attached to premium fruits. Together, they support local leading enterprises to roll out a tiered and price-based purchase system to stabilize market prices, drive the quality and efficiency upgrade of the industrial chain, and guide the apple industry to shift from greater output to better quality. In the meantime, these enterprises have adopted various measures, such as land transfer, labor hiring, prioritized procurement of fruits from poor households, free sorting, exemption of storage fees, and sales bonus, to benefit those living in poverty with the development of the industrial chain, thus building a more stable mechanism for poverty alleviation. In Daode Village, Beidaode Town, Fu County of Yan’an, Wang Zhenhua’s orchard produced 12,500 kilograms of apples this year. With CDB’s support, local leading enterprises purchased 9,170 kilograms of them, priced according to different levels of quality. The transaction brought her a net income of more than 30,000 yuan. “Good apples sell good prices!” Wang Zhenhua grows more confident. She is planning to increase the production of high-quality apples next year.
According to CDB’s Poverty Relief Program Finance, the next steps will be to further its industrial development and poverty alleviation, strengthen follow-up support for poverty alleviation relocation, expand the coverage of relent loans, improve post-lending management, and continue to track the effectiveness of poverty alleviation programs. Also, efforts will be made to ensure that industrial development and poverty alleviation are accurately targeted, and that outcomes are not only effective but can withstand the test of time.
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