China Matters documents a video on poverty alleviation of ethnic groups in Yunnan Province (VIDEO)

Beijing (ots) – The focus on getting rid of poverty in China’s southern Yunnan Province in 2020 has meant making sure everyone in the region is living above the poverty line.

And people like Fan Lifang and Li Shuliang have literally gone from surviving to actually making a living with the help of the government.

The local government is now cooperating with businesses from across the country. Together, they’ve set up an infrastructure to provide jobs, healthcare, education and housing.

Fan Lifang is a 28-year-old native of the Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan and mother to three young children under the age of seven.

She is now earning 2,500 yuan per month working at a baseball workshop set up by a Zhuhai city company, who pays for her salary. This mean she is earning extra income alongside her husband. Previously she could only make a few thousand in a whole year planting crops in the mountains. Now she has housing as well as access to education and healthcare for her family.

She now hopes her children will be able to get the opportunity to go to a university to make a better living than what she could provide.

Li Shuliang is also from the mountainous regions. She is now a self-made entrepreneur from the same prefecture. She grafted on the street for years. She now has a business making and selling Lisu ethnic group outfits with the government’s support.

With this help, she has been able to drive down her costs and make sure her outfits are affordable to the locals. Because, affordability is the reason why she started this business in the first place.

Today, one of her outfits typically costs around 200 yuan compared to double that, in online stores from elsewhere. In 2019, she made five million yuan selling some 20,000 units and the business is thriving.

But beyond just the money, the 33-year-old is hoping to help more people like her. She now employs 72 local people in her shop and factory.

However, for both Fan and Li, one thing is certain, help from the government is creating opportunities and opportunities are creating change for the good.

Digital press kit: http://www.ots.at/pressemappe/DE143504/aom