Promoting industry development has proven to be an effective and fundamental solution for poverty alleviation. Southwest China's Guizhou province has achieved great developments since it fully embarked on this strategy in 2018.
At the beginning of this year, the province explicitly put forward that characteristic industries, including tea, edible mushrooms, vegetables, fruit, bamboo, traditional Chinese medicine, and chili, were the main developing directions for industry development.
One of the most important principles in choosing industries for development is making full use of resource endowment and taking the path of differentiated development to lead a different developing road is one of the important principles in choosing industries. For example, the development of the tea industry in Guizhou has proven to be a successful case.
Guizhou is a major production center for tea with its high altitude, low latitude, and littlee sunshine, which are good for the growth of tea trees. In 2007, the province proposed to promote the development of its tea industry. To date, the area of tea plantations have grown from one million mu (66,667 hectares) to seven million mu, ranking first in China. Production has reached 362,000 tons, generating a total output value of 39.4 billion yuan ($5.72 billion). The tea industry has also helped 137,000 people move out of poverty.
In addition, different regions in Guizhou have found success in choosing characteristic industries based on local superior resources for industry development.
Mountainous topography and warm climate make Xingren an ideal place for the growth of myotonin. With a planting history of more than 1,000 years, myotonin is proposed as a priority industry for poverty alleviation by local government. There are more than 400 myotonin enterprises with an annual production of 350,000 tons. Myotonin is sold to China's major cites, as well as different countries and regions including Japan, the United States, Europe, and Southeast Asia, earning an annual output value of 5 billion yuan, which accounts for more than 70 percent of the global market share.
A successful industry must have market demand. Puding county organized an investigation team to China's major producing areas of yellowish leek when the county planned to select it as a pillar industry. After more than a half-year of market research, the county decided to increase the planting area of yellowish leek from 8,000 mu to 100,000 mu.
In addition, a successful industry must meet market standards. Zhang Yongjian, chairman of Maoyuan Poultry Production Co Ltd, spent time learning about the strict market requirements for high-quality eggs to enter the Guangdong province markets. Now, his company transports more than 100,000 eggs produced in Bijie to the wholesale market in Guangzhou every day.
The main purpose of developing industries is to help households out of poverty and earn stable incomes, so industries should attract more rural residents to participate in them. Developing the vegetables industry has become a top priority in Guizhou's poverty alleviation efforts. Last year, the province's planting area of vegetables reached 15.1 million mu, with an output of 22.13 million tons. A total of 19 million people participated in the vegetables industry and their per capita income increased by 3,253 yuan.
Industrial development is bringing more economic benefits to farmers in Guizhou. According to data provided by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of Guizhou province, the province's added value of agriculture reached 40.509 billion yuan in the first quarter of 2019, a year-on-year growth of 5.2 percent. The per capita disposable income of rural residents increased by 2,481 yuan, a year-on-year growth of 9.8 percent, as well as one percentage point higher than the national average.
Zhao Yandi contributed to this story
