The cooperation between Beijing and North China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region on poverty alleviation has achieved significant results, according to a report in the Beijing Daily.

During the past two years, around 300,000 impoverished residents from Inner Mongolia have benefited from the joint work of the two sides, which has involved training of skilled workers, education, medical services, construction of infrastructure and industry development.

From 2018 to 2019, Beijing invested 2.74 billion yuan ($384.9 million) in financial aid at all levels in Inner Mongolia and the autonomous region has used the aid funds to implement 1,357 collaborative poverty alleviation projects.

Over the past two years, a total of 138 companies from Beijing invested 4.16 billion yuan in Inner Mongolia’s 31 poverty-stricken banners and counties, resulting in the construction of 31 industrial parks and 141 workshops.

Meanwhile, cooperation between the two sides in agricultural product promotions and sales helped Inner Mongolia’s impoverished banners and counties sell 491 kinds of local agricultural products in seven categories to Beijing. 

Officials said that total sales in the two year reached 5.2 billion yuan and helped increase the incomes of 90,287 poverty-stricken people.

They said that recently, a delegation from a Beijing company had paid a visit to Inner Mongolia and signed 16 purchase agreements to further support the sale of local agricultural products and boost local industry development.

In the current year, the poverty alleviation joint work between Beijing and Inner Mongolia will focus on the remaining 16,000 people in poverty and prevent those who have been lifted out from sliding back into poverty.