Documentary focuses transnational companies' programs to fight poverty

A documentary film on the efforts of transnational corporations in China to fight poverty was premiered in Beijing on Jan 31.

Lao Qu (literally meaning "the old regions") was produced by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries to mark the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up.

In China, the term "lao qu" refers to rural areas which were hubs for the revolution from the late the 1920s to the 1940s, which led to the founding of New China in 1949.

However, many such regions were poor.

The documentary follows a program called the "Rainbow Bridge", which was launched in 2012 and involved more than 60 transnational corporations.

According to Li Xiaolin, the head of Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, the program covers 148 counties in six province-level administrative regions, and has benefited 13 million people with 96 projects — mainly in expertise training, cultural services, construction of infrastructure, and volunteer activities.

Many projects were designed to benefit the younger generation, like introducing talented children in the countryside to leading football clubs in Europe.