Sponsor program aims to help poor farmers

By Cyril Li  |   2008-12-24  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

A SMALL county in Chongqing Municipality is encouraging wealthy urban residents to set up ties with its poor farmers to eliminate local poverty.

Each volunteer should be capable of donating at least 100,000 yuan (US$14,500) to the needy family he or she helps, Liu Qi, the Party chief of Wulong County, told Chongqing Evening News yesterday.

Each family will also be given 15,000 yuan by the local government if it acquires a 100,000-yuan donation from a wealthy sponsor.

The first batch of beneficiaries comprises 26 families from two villages in Wulong.

All the money will be spent on hostels to develop "farming tourism," according to Liu.

Wulong is listed as a target for China's poverty-alleviation. The county government wished to be the first in Chongqing to eliminate poverty.

Besides financial donations, sponsors will also act as consultants for the poor families.

The 26 families will be invited to attend a ceremony in Chongqing's downtown area at the end of the month or the beginning of next year to meet their urban counterparts.

Sponsors will be entitled to a series of privileges in Wulong as a reward, including some preferential policies on business development in Wulong, a small bloc of farmland and lifetime free access to the county's scenic sites.