CCTV:

Gansu was once the province with the most challenging poverty alleviation tasks in the country. Having won the battle against poverty, how will Gansu consolidate its achievements and prevent a large-scale return to poverty? What measures will be taken to promote comprehensive rural revitalization? Thank you.

Ren Zhenhe:

Thank you for your questions. The issues you raised are very important for Gansu. In the past, Gansu was known as a "place of great hardships." After winning the unprecedented battle against poverty, Gansu is no longer a place of bitter hardships, but a land of happiness.

In recent years, we have firmly committed to the bottom-line task of preventing a large-scale return to poverty. On one hand, we have focused on consolidating and expanding our achievements, and on the other hand, we have promoted comprehensive rural revitalization. We continue to give a leg up to people who have been lifted out of poverty. We adhere to the use of development methods to consolidate and expand the hard-won achievements of poverty alleviation and accelerate the transformation of Gansu from a large agricultural province to a strong agricultural province. The per capita disposable income in rural areas that have been lifted out of poverty in the province increased from 9,385 yuan in 2020 to 12,107 yuan in 2023, with an average annual growth rate of 8.9%. Next, we will focus on two areas:

In consolidating and expanding our achievements, we will make good use of "two forces." The first is to stimulate internal force. We will ensure that although absolute poverty has been eliminated, all the related responsibilities, policies, support and oversights remain in place. We will encourage and guide people who have just shaken off poverty to increase their incomes through employment, industry and entrepreneurship, thereby enhancing their internal driving force for self-development. We will innovate and improve the "Gansu One-Click Poverty Reporting" mechanism, using digital means to strengthen dynamic monitoring to prevent people from falling back into poverty, and promptly identify, intervene and assist those prone to returning to poverty. The other is to make good use of external force. We will deepen cooperation between eastern and western regions and advance targeted assistance from central departments and organizations. With the support of Tianjin, Shandong and 37 central departments and organizations, we will strengthen industrial assistance, labor cooperation, joint project construction and talent exchange, jointly writing a new chapter of east-west cooperation in the new era.

In terms of comprehensive rural revitalization, we will focus on painting "two pictures." One is a picture of building a harmonious and beautiful countryside. We will learn from and apply the experience of the Green Rural Revival Program in Zhejiang province and solidly carry out the creation of a harmonious and beautiful countryside with the main features of "beautiful villages, thriving industries, good governance, harmonious atmosphere, prosperous people and strong collectives." We will certify around 100 provincial-level harmonious and beautiful villages each year through a region-specific and category-based approach, highlighting idyllic plains, beautiful mountain villages, poetic wetlands, unique Tibetan ethnic areas on the plateau, and traditional villages rich in culture. Together we will paint a picture of a beautiful Gansu for all regions to prosper individually and collectively. The other is a picture of fostering industries with local features. As for Gansu's agriculture, the brand "Ganwei" (Honest Gansu, Authentic Flavor) has topped the China Regional Agricultural Brand Influence Index for three consecutive years. This is perhaps unexpected but also reasonable: First, in terms of growing vegetables in the Gobi Desert, Gansu has two of China's top 10 vegetable bases, namely Zhangye and Lanzhou, with the largest highland summer vegetable planting area and production in the country. Second, corn seed production is significant, with Gansu being the largest corn seed production base in the country, producing one out of every two corn seeds in China. Third, its geo-authentic medicinal materials are well-known, with Gansu being called a "natural pharmacy" and "thousand-year-old medicinal hometown." The province has the largest area and production of cultivated Chinese medicinal materials in the country, and is China’s only comprehensive pilot zone for traditional Chinese medicine industry development. To ensure that these resources from Gansu fetch good prices and enrich the local people, we will comprehensively strengthen the construction of a strong agricultural province, deeply develop local specialty products, cultivate and strengthen one or two leading industries in each county, leverage specialty brands, extend industrial chains, and increase added value, so that "Ganwei" agricultural products can sell well domestically and globally.

Thank you.