Xi: Poverty relief key to prosperity goal

Immediately after he arrived in the province on Monday, Xi traveled to an organic day lily farm in Datong's Yunzhou district and talked with people working there. Local farmers plant day lilies and make a living from selling the edible plant.

"This is a promising industry, and we should protect and develop this industry to make it a good path for the farmers to get rich," he told the farmers.

The farmers told Xi that in recent years they have achieved a stable output of quality day lilies with a guaranteed market and price, helping lift a number of impoverished households out of poverty.

Yunzhou district used to be a poverty-stricken area, where growing day lilies had a long history but was not on a large scale. Now the total area of day lily cultivation has increased from around 1,000 hectares before 2010 to the current 10,000 hectares, generating a total revenue of 65 million yuan ($9.17 million) in the district last year.

"Last month, I traveled to a village cultivating black fungus in Shaanxi province. I said there that there is 'little fungus and big industry'. And you are also engaging in a big industry of planting day lilies," Xi told the farmers.

During the trip last month, he talked with villagers who were preparing for livestream marketing of their agricultural products, including black fungus. Online sales of fungus soared soon after the president's visit.

The Shanxi tour, which came only about 10 days ahead of the annual sessions of the national legislature and political advisory body, followed Xi's visits to Zhejiang and Shaanxi provinces in late March and April.