The municipal government of Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi province, held a meeting on Jan 11 to introduce the city's poverty alleviation work last year.

As of the end of 2020, 73,721 households comprised of 250,414 people had been lifted out of poverty in the city. Also, all 291 poverty-stricken villages had been removed from the list of impoverished villages.

The per capita net income of poor households increased from 3,788 yuan ($585.02) in 2015 to 12,613 yuan last year, an average annual increase of 27.2 percent.

Poor households from Beilin district in Xi'an increase their income by breeding Chinese bees. [Photo/xiancn.com]

Xi'an offered impoverished citizens the opportunity to help develop medium and long-term industries, and a total of 71,000 households in the city benefited from industry assistance. As a result, the average household income increased to 6,800 yuan.

Throughout the year, 111,700 poor laborers achieved employment, a year-on-year increase of 19.7 percent.

During the COVID-19 epidemic, Xi'an issued a price subsidy of 33.78 million yuan to the city's urban and rural subsistence allowance targets and extremely poor people.

Also, 150 rural drinking water safety projects were implemented throughout the year, with an investment of 120 million yuan. The rural minimum living standard was raised to 6,720 yuan per person per year.

In addition, the three-level assistance units at the provincial, city and county levels directly invested and coordinated the introduction of 224 million yuan, focusing on industrial cultivation, infrastructure and public services.