A day ahead of China's Poverty Relief Day, 20 wealthy Chinese villages have agreed to help alleviate 12 of their poverty-stricken counterparts, China Daily reported.
The deal was sealed in Beijing after a series of poverty relief fora and a commendation gathering in line with the said commemoration, which fell on a Monday this year.
Through the agreements, the well-off villages will be sharing how they prospered and will be lending their hands to help boost their counterparts' local industries and nurture their resources.
Furthermore, these also allow officials from the less developed areas to work in the wealthy towns for them to learn skills and foster inter-village trades as well.
According to Xu Jianmin, an officer at the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, the move will be instrumental in advancing "the efforts of precision poverty relied," China Daily wrote.
"We believe that by encouraging such cooperation, gaps in wealth and economic development can be narrowed," Xu remarked.
Majority of the agreements' beneficiaries are located in western China while those wealthy villages can be found in the country's east and southeastern regions.
President Xi Jinping, in a message he sent to last Sunday's meeting, noted that local officials must do their best to implement such measures that aim to elevate the lives of the impoverished Chinese.
For the past 30 years, China has become the first developing country to meet the Millennium Development Goals set by the United Nations after lifting over 600 million nationals out of poverty. The statistic comprises around 70 percent of the world total.
Poverty reduction has been one of the government's priority, keeping its commitment to reach out to the remaining populace below the poverty line (approximately 70 million) stronger year after year. China eyes to eliminate poverty by 2020.
For Bert Hofman, World Bank's country director for China, though the target is quite ambitious, it can still be attainable taking into account the country's current economic policy and growth rate figures.