Fujian-Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Pairing-off Poverty Alleviation

　　【Overview】 In 2011, Fujian and Ningxia conducted multi-level and wide-ranging cooperation and made new achievements. Fujian Province, the designated cities and counties and all circles of society donated 86.6038 million Yuan to Ningxia, of which 30 million Yuan was from Fujian Provincial government and 56.6038 million Yuan was from the designated cities and counties. These funds and materials effectively improved the production and living conditions of the masses in impoverished areas and further boosted the economic and social development of poor areas in Ningxia

　　【The 15th Joint Conference on Fujian-Ningxia Pairing-off Cooperation】 On August 29, the  15th Joint Conference on Fujian-Ningxia Pairing-off Cooperation by mutual learning and mutual assistance was held in Yinchuan City of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. Secretary of Fujian Provincial Party Committee and Director of Fujian Provincial People's Congress Standing Committee Sun Chunlan, Governor Su Shulin, other leaders of Fujian Provincial Party Committee, the National People's Congress, the Government and CPPCC, 81 principals of 25 departments concerned and 18 cities (development zones) and counties (districts), Party secretary of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and Director of National People's Congress Zhang Yi, Chairman of the autonomous region Wang Zhengwei, relevant leaders of Ningxia and 83 principals of the cities and counties (districts) attended the event. At the meeting, the two sides’ party and government leaders respectively delivered important speeches, reviewed the anti-poverty work since the holding of the 14th joint meeting and conducted in-depth research and discussion on the pairing-off poverty alleviation by mutual learning and mutual assistance to implement the spirit of the 5th and 6th Plenary Session of the 17th CPC Central Committee and further practice the scientific outlook on development. The two sides signed the 15th joint meeting minutes and decided to focus on five aspects in the pairing-off poverty reduction. First, support the ecological migration project of Ningxia to jointly promote the poverty reduction in Liupan Mountain areas. Second, promote the in-depth cooperation between the two sides to achieve advantage complementation by giving play to the platform advantages of “9.8” CIFIT (China International Fair for Investment and Trade held in Xiamen from September 7 to 11 every year) and the China-Arab Economic Forum (the “Ningxia Fair and the First China-Arab Economic Forum jointly held by the Ministry of Commerce, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region People's Government). Third, innovate the collaborative mechanisms and encourage and support more enterprises to participate in the pairing-off collaboration. Fourth, support the opening of Xiamen - Yinchuan flights to promote the coordinated development of tourism and cultural industries of the two provinces. Fifth, strengthen the cooperation and exchange in the field of education, health, science and technology and cultural to promote the comprehensive development of their pairing-off poverty alleviation by mutual learning and mutual assistance. The convening of the 15th joint meeting marked that Fujian – Ningxia cooperation in poverty reduction entered into a new historical period.

　　【Fujian-Ningxia cooperation projects】 In accordance with the spirit of the 14th joint meeting, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region comprehensively implemented the counterpart aid projects of 2010 with investment of 21 million Yuan from Fujian Province, covering five categories of projects in 11 cities (counties, districts), involving over 50,000 rural households in central and southern Ningxia. First, it continued to implement poverty relief projects by developing Juncao industry, constructed two Juncao seed production, training s and experimental demonstration bases, renovated one industrialized bacteria deep fermentation mushroom house, purchased five sets of high-voltage sterilization equipment, fostered 10 technicians for local areas, organized trainings for 640 backbone technical persons and mushroom growers, supported 400 mushroom growing households, promoted the planting of new species of antler and lucid ganoderma of 4700 square meters and the planting of new Juncao species of 250 mu with output value of 4.8 million Yuan, and there was an increase of nearly 6,000 Yuan in the per household income of mushroom growers. Some mushroom growers gradually shook off poverty and became rich. Secondly, featured industrial projects were implemented in 11 cities and counties (districts). Focusing on entire village advancement, it invested 2.02 million Yuan to support 1,700 rural households to breed 1625 heads of beef cattle and 100 sika deer; put in 3.32 million Yuan for the development of featured planting of 10,000 mu, involving the planting of potatoes, dates, red onions, watermelon, flowers, traditional Chinese medicinal materials and wine grapes, and the construction of 160 facility greenhouses to guide the masses to shake off poverty through the development of industries with local characteristics. Third, combined with the ecological relocation project, it implemented the model village building projects for the residents involved in ecological relocation, invested 2.9 million Yuan to set up five model villages for ecological relocation and one Fujian – Ningxia industrial zone and, through the improvement of living conditions, villages’ appearance and infrastructure, industry cultivation and the improvement of mental attitude, it made the project a highlight in the construction of new socialist countryside in poor areas of Ningxia and play its leading role in the anti-poverty work. Fourth, it allocated anti-poverty funds of 2 million Yuan to support the development of education and the construction of Ningxia Yucai Middle School, creating a good learning environment for the students in impoverished areas. Fifth, it issued 7 million Yuan to develop the social undertakings in Guyuan City and support the construction of Guyuan Ethnic Vocational Education and Training Center, Guyuan Activity Centers for Workers and Old-aged People and the Dongshanbo Diversion Works of Guyuan City, gradually improving the cultural and education conditions and addressing the drinking water problem of Guyuan.

　　【Counterpart support】 In accordance with the spirit of the 14th joint meeting, the 7th batch of temporary cadres sent by Fujian to Ningxia actively strived for funds and projects for the twinned cities and counties (districts). Through the unremitting efforts of the sending cadres, anti-poverty funds of 56.6038 million Yuan were issued for the counterpart support for poor areas of Ningxia, 19 cooperation investment projects were introduced with a total investment of 1.05 billion Yuan, of which five projects were implemented with investment of more than 300 million Yuan. The goal of mutual learning and mutual aid for a win-win situation was achieved. 4.9 million Yuan was invested by Cangshan District of Fujian in Delong County for the implementation of 9 relief projects, involving the construction of ecological relocation projects (Fujian-Ningxia model villages), facility tunnels, traditional Chinese medicinal materials, fruits, vegetables, flowers and labor transfer. Fuzhou City and Lianjiang County issued anti-poverty funds of 2.95 million Yuan to Yanchi County to support the development of ten projects, including  “two one-million Yuan projects” - one million Yuan for education development and one million Yuan for ecological relocation projects (Fujian-Ningxia model villages), and three “hand-in-hand” projects: cooperation projects of departments, enterprises and schools. Xiamen City, Tong’an District and Jimen District, which were designated to support Haiyuan County, provided 5.4988 million Yuan in cash and 3.115 million Yuan in kind to support the construction of ecological immigration villages in Haiyuan County, industrial development, education, culture, health, student subsidy projects and office automation projects. Xiamen City and Haicang District, which were designated to provide counterpart support for Jingyuan County, allocated 6.4 million Yuan in cash and 100,000 Yuan in kind to help Jingyuan County develop social undertakings such as the construction of ecological relocation projects (Fujian-Ningxia model villages) and the development of grassland animal husbandry and seedling industry, school building, poor student subsidizing and cultural development. Nan’an City of Fujian Province donated 9.26 million Yuan to Tongxin County to support the housing construction with eco-relocation subsidy, experimental primary school building and industrial development. The sending cadres from Fengze District of Fujian to support Yuanzhou District actively strived for funds of 4.2 million Yuan and materials of 5.38 million Yuan to solve the most pressing problems of the masses, mainly to support the construction of relief projects such as the construction of ecological relocation projects (Fujian-Ningxia model villages), grassland animal husbandry, facility agriculture, education, health and university student subsidizing. The sending cadres of Dongshan County of Fujian, which was designated to provide counterpart support for Pengyang County, strived for 6.1 million Yuan of funds and 370,000 Yuan of materials to support the construction of six major projects in Pengyang County, including Juncao industry, the construction of ecological relocation projects (Fujian-Ningxia model villages), the development of education, culture and health industry. The government and all circles of society of Xiuyu District in Putian City of Fujian Province donated 7.34 million Yuan to support the construction of five major projects in the twinned county – Xiji County, involving ecological immigration, Fujian – Ningxia Industrial park, education, health and infrastructure, etc. Chen Yonggong and Feng Zhengfeng, leaders of the sending cadres for Guyuan City strived for 1.5 million Yuan of funds to support the construction of Guyuan’s experimental primary schools, improving the situations of urban primary schools in the city.

　　【Social Poverty Alleviation】 The two provinces’ organization, personnel, education, health, science and technology, development and reform, poverty reduction, economic, credit and tourism departments, Communist Youth League, women's federations and other departments worked together to promote the pairing-off poverty reduction work by giving play to their department advantages. With joint efforts of the two sides, the Xiamen – Nanchang/ Xi’an - Yinchuan flight determined by the “Minutes” changed as Xiamen – Wuhan –Yinchuan flight; Fujian Province held trainings of technicians for 1615 people of Ningxia, held four cadre trainings for 35 persons and organized management personnel trainings for 6 persons. 51 sending cadres and 65 technical persons were exchanged. All circles of society in Fujian donated money to build 14 schools for the mountain areas of Ningxia and helped 1032 poor students. The 13th batch of 46 excellent middle school teachers of Fujian Province went to the southern mountain areas of Ningxia for one-year support for the education of local areas; 33 postgraduate volunteers sent by Fujian League Committee to support the Western Development Program provided volunteer services for 22 counties and districts in Ningxia for one to three years. The grassroots volunteer services for basic education, medical and health care, agricultural science and technology and social management boosted the development of the science, education, cultural and health industry in poor areas. Ningxia organized labor transfer to Fujian for 2840 person-times and recorded labor service income of 48.1 million Yuan, increasing the income of the farmers in poverty-stricken areas of Ningxia.

　　【Business cooperation in poverty reduction】 More than 3000 Fujian’s enterprises and businesses and more than 30,000 Fujian’s businessmen were in Ningxia. The scale of associations and organizations kept expanding. On the basis of the original Ningxia - Fujian Entrepreneurs Association, Yinchuan Quanzhou Chamber of Commerce, Yinchuan Nan’an Chamber of Commerce and Ningxia - Fujian Entrepreneurs Association Guyuan Branch, in 2011, the Ningxia - Fujian Entrepreneurs Association Wuzhong Branch, Ningxia Timber Industry Association and Ningxia Putian Chamber of Commerce were set up with more than 1200 members. The business scope of enterprises continued to be expanded. Based on the original real estate, building materials, catering and entertainment, food processing, coal chemical industry, hospital and medicine, the enterprises expanded their business scope to cover professional market, logistics services, green agriculture, vegetation on barren sand and plastic pipe production, etc. According to incomplete statistics, the total assets reached 12 billion Yuan, the annual turnover amounted to 20 billion Yuan and the paid taxes reached 100 million Yuan or so. These associations provided jobs for more than 30,000 local residents. Meanwhile, they actively participated in the merchant-inviting activities organized by government departments at all levels. Through unremitting efforts, a number of new projects were launched in Ningxia with a total investment of 5 billion Yuan. In 2011, the invited merchants’ investment increased by 1.2 billion Yuan, and good results were achieved. At the same time, Fujian’s enterprises in Ningxia actively carried out public welfare activity. Yinchuan Nan’an Chamber of Commerce donated 1 million Yuan to build Hope Primary School in Tongxin County; Ningxia Putian Chamber of Commerce and Ningxia Minning Investment Properties Co., Ltd donated 3 million Yuan to build Hope Primary School in Xiji; the association donated 20,000 Yuan of Samaritan condolence payments and donated 110,000 Yuan for Ningxia Armed Police Force, making ​a positive contribution to promoting the harmony and stability in Ningxia.

　　【Merchants inviting】On October 24, 2011, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region People's Government held in Fuzhou City of Fujian Province the "Ningxia • Fujian (Xiamen) Trade Cooperation Promotion Fair". More than 100 people attended the event, including a delegation headed by Vice Chairman of the Autonomous Region’s Government Li Rui, the government delegation composed of the representatives of Ningxia Party Committee, relevant government departments, the armed police Ningxia corps, Yinchuan, Shizuishan, Wuzhong, Guyuan and Zhongwei City, and the enterprise delegation composes of the representatives of Ningxia – Fujian Entrepreneurs Association, Quanzhou Chamber of Commerce, Nan’an Chamber of Commerce and some enterprises, etc. Vice Governor of Fujian Province Ni Yuefeng, relevant principals of the General Office of Fujian Provincial People's Government, Department of Agriculture and the Economic and Trade Commission, representatives of nearly 200 businesses in and round Fujian and Taiwan and more than 50 journalists from 30 central media, Fujian, Fuzhou, HK and Macao’s new media attended the conference. At the meeting, relevant parties signed 17 projects with a total investment of 9 billion Yuan, of which 4.24 billion Yuan was for cooperative projects, involving the leading industries such as new energy, new building materials, deep processing of agricultural products, trade and services, including a number of key cooperation projects. Helan County People's Government signed a wind power generation project with a total investment of 1 billion Yuan with Xiamen Yongxingguang Investment Co., Ltd; Yanchi County People's Government and Minying Building Materials Co., Ltd. signed a cement powder production project with annual production capacity of 1.8 million tons with a total investment of 460 million Yuan; Guyuan City People's Government and Ningxia Fujian Entrepreneurs Association Guyuan Branch signed the Minshang Building project with a total investment of 300 million Yuan; Zhongwei City People's Government and Fujian businesses signed a coal washing and logistic project with an annual production capacity of 3 million tons with a total investment of 800 million Yuan, and the Management Commission of Ningxia Ningdong Energy and Chemical Base and Johsin Group signed the new type plastic pipe and accessory project with a total investment of 500 million Yuan. The activity of “Fujian’s Leading Enterprises of Agricultural Industrialization in Ningxia” jointly organized by Ningxia Autonomous Region Office of Poverty Alleviation, Agricultural Office of Fujian Provincial Party Committee and Guyuan City Government was carried out in Ningxia from July 6 to 9. More than 20 entrepreneurs from 16 leading enterprises of agricultural industrialization of Fujian conducted a four-day field research in Ningxia. Through the field research, they had a better understanding of the investment environment, development advantages and resource conditions of Ningxia and found the advantages of Ningxia and which fields to invest. 6 Fujian’s enterprises decided to invest in Ningxia and signed the investment cooperation projects worth 1 billion Yuan. On the signing ceremony, Hong Kong Tianyi Fruit Holdings Ltd donated 300,000 Yuan of education funds to Guyuan Experimental Primary School for Fujian – Ningxia cooperation.