Paired assistance provides power for green development

New electricity networks are being built to bring renewable energy to the nation's major urban and manufacturing areas. Hou Liqiang reports.

Cooperation between paired eastern and western regions — in which prosperous regions provide assistance to underdeveloped areas — has proved to be an effective approach that helped China declare victory in its battle against extreme poverty in February 2021.

As the country forges ahead with its ambitious and arduous targets of peaking carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and realizing carbon neutrality before 2060, the pairing mechanism is likely to play a significant role once again.

This time, though, support is being offered by the west of the country — which is sparsely populated but home to rich renewable resources — to the densely populated, power-thirsty eastern areas.

Irrespective of the direction, the result of such cooperation is still a win-win outcome.

In the country's poverty eradication campaign, Beijing is paired with the Inner Mongolia autonomous region and Hebei province.

According to the Beijing government, in 2016-17, the capital provided more than 2 billion yuan ($290 million) in funds to support the two provincial-level regions in their poverty relief endeavors.

In total, the support, which aided implementation of 350 projects, helped lift 470,000 people out of poverty. Now, the two regions are paying Beijing back and helping make the city even greener.