Revisiting Shibadong, the birthplace of 'targeted poverty alleviation'

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There are various reasons for a family to be trapped in poverty. Some are common, while others are unique.

Infrastructure has long been a weakness in rural development. With the goal of building a beautiful and livable village, Shibadong has been vigorously promoting ethnic folk customs throughout its construction.

The improvement of roads, drinking water, power grids, residential buildings, landscapes, tourism facilities, and public service facilities in the village have completely transformed the original situation, doing away with traffic jams, shabby cottages and a degraded environment.

During the hiatus caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, the village stepped up its infrastructure construction to prepare for the post-pandemic tourism boom.

Medical expenses used to be an unbearable burden for rural residents. But all the residents of Shibadong have now been covered by basic medical insurance and serious disease insurance. The Second People's Hospital of Hunan Province also set up a telemedicine site in the village.

Long Yuanzhang, an impoverished villager, was hospitalized for pulmonary infection last year. His insurance has covered 1,524 yuan (about $214) out of the total medical bill of 1,544 yuan.

"The disease cost me almost nothing, thanks to the insurance," he said.

By the end of 2019, targeted medical insurance had helped 4.18 million impoverished people with health problems shake off poverty, data with the National Healthcare Security Administration showed.

For those households facing extreme difficulties, pairing-up assistance has been adopted. Soon after the anti-poverty team entered Shibadong, five officials paired up with the five most impoverished households.

From on-the-job training to getting loans, even setting up romantic dates for aged bachelors, the officials pooled their resources to tackle the most urgent difficulties for the villagers.

Back in 2013, the per capita disposable income of the 939 villagers in Shibadong was only 1,668 yuan, with 57 percent of the population living below the poverty line. In 2017, Shibadong officially ridded itself of poverty. In 2018, the village's per capita disposable income stood at 12,128 yuan.

The Chinese government vows to continue applying the current poverty alleviation standards, increasing the allocation of resources and taking stronger steps to implement poverty reduction measures. The aim is to ensure that all of China's remaining poor people are lifted out of poverty by deadline of 2020.