300 villages to alleviate poverty by tourism development

(chinadaily.com.cn)

Updated: 2015-03-26

North China's Shanxi province is known for its mountains and rivers; what is less known is its large poverty-stricken population in the countryside.

The province plans to alleviate rural poverty through developing tourism in those areas, according to the provincial Leading Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development.

The initiative will start this year and by 2020, the province will support about 300 poverty-stricken villages to develop tourism.

The plan will be implemented step by step. Policymakers will first choose some villages that have rich tourism resources and are close to mature scenic spots or travel routes this year and devise special supporting policies for them. They will pick up more villages from next year until 2020 as targets of supports.

The authorities will initiate low-cost tourism projects in which local farmers can participate to benefit. The market mechanism will also be introduced and non-government funds will be channeled in to join the development of local tourism resources to help those poor farmers.

The authorities vowed to focus on construction of rural tourism infrastructure and provision of public services and provide preferential policies to boost rural tourism and alleviate poverty.

Edited by Michael Thai