Backcountry to relocate 250,000 farmers 2013

Around 250,000 poverty-stricken rural residents will be moved from barren areas as part of a relocation plan in southwest China's Guizhou Province, the government confirmed on Friday. The provincial government has earmarked 5 billion yuan (803 million U.S. dollars) for the plan, the provincial development and reform commission said. The province would finish relocating about 101,300 farmers from barren areas this year, with total spending of 1.8 billion yuan, the commission said. When the plan is completed by 2020, about 2 million rural residents under the new national poverty line will have been relocated, in order to improve living conditions, it said. The central government in 2011 lifted the national poverty line to an individual annual net income of 2,300 yuan. People who earn less than the amount are considered poverty-stricken. Guizhou is currently home to more than 11 million poverty-stricken people, accounting for 33.4 percent of its rural population. Many are living in mountainous, sandy or stony areas. Homes for the residents that are being relocated are under construction. The first batch of farmers are expected to move at the end of the year. The provincial government also required local governments to guarantee jobs as well as residence for the relocated farmers.