XI'AN - The poverty relief fund backed by the centrally-administered State-owned enterprises (SOE) has set up sub-funds worth 5.4 billion yuan (about $860 million) in nine provinces.Some of the funds have been used to develop local tourism, animal husbandry and the new energy sector in provinces with large poor populations, including Guizhou, Henan and Qinghai, according to Wang Weidong, general manager of the company that runs the central SOE poverty relief fund.The central SOE poverty relief fund has so far enlisted 104 shareholders with a total funding of 15.4 billion yuan since it was launched in October 2016.Policy makers have listed poverty alleviation as one of the country's "three tough battles" for the next three years, along with risk prevention and pollution control.The government aims to lift over 10 million people out of poverty this year, including relocating 2.8 million people from inhospitable areas, and China is aiming to eliminate poverty by 2020 in a bid to create a "moderately prosperous society." clear silicone wristbandsbasketball silicone braceletstriple single rubber band bracelethow to make your own silicone wristbands at homecorporate silicone wristbands
Environmental volunteer Lei Yueqin can recall what the Nanming River, which flows through Guiyang, Guizhou province, was like in the early 1950s. It was so pristine, she said, that people would use its water directly for drinking, cooking and washing.Kids would swim and catch fish in the river, the 81-year-old said.But the waterway - a tributary of the Yangtze River - was quickly polluted by the increase in manufacturing emissions and household sewage that came after reform and opening-up brought economic growth.The river was dirty and dark by the end of the last century, Lei said. The fish couldn't survive. And it stank.Lei has worked as a volunteer to patrol the Nanming since she retired in 1984. I used to be able to walk about 15 kilometers a day, she said. But I'm older now. I can only do 3 or 4 km at a time.The retiree has drawn six maps by hand over the years, recording the water's color and odor, and pollution sources at various locations. She said eight factories, including a paper mill, coal-fired generators and a tannery, once operated along the river, pointing to a map she drew in 1994.The factories were relocated. But the pollution remained in the coming decade, she said.The water began to drastically improve when the city's government launched a full-scale recovery program in 2012. Authorities have since spent 3.8 billion yuan ($546.5 million) to clean up the river.The first phase, from 2012 to 2013, created a decontamination system, constructed silt-processing facilities, and renovated shutter dams, while the second phase, between 2014 and 2016, focused on building wastewater treatment plants.The third phase, from 2016 to 2025, will develop regulations to separate rainwater and wastewater. It will also curb agricultural runoff, authorities said.About 70 percent of the Nanming's water is classified as Grade III, clean enough for swimming or aquaculture, or Grade IV, meaning it is OK for industrial use or other purposes that do not bring it into direct contact with humans.Improving the river's water is part of three major environmental protection projects that the government is undertaking with an investment of more than 40 billion yuan.Guiyang has been working to expand its forest coverage. The plan calls for increasing coverage from 49 to 60 percent by 2020.In 2004, Guiyang was recognized as China's first national-level forest city by the State Forestry Bureau, which has since become the National Forestry and Grassland Administration. The city is surrounded by 162,000 hectares of forest.Ecological revitalization encourages shared benefits, Gao Xiaowen, deputy director of the Guiyang Ecological Civilization Construction Committee, said in an earlier interview. Soon, local people will see how they can share in the city's reconstruction plan.Li Hanyi and Che Weiwei contributed to this story.? polynesian wristband tattoo designsdual layer wristbandusb wristbands customcustom rolex braceletbracelet en silicone nike<%2fcenter>
