A local woman in Qiandongnan is employed as an embroiderer as part of Hangzhou's targeted poverty alleviation program in the region. [Photo/zj.zjol.com.cn]

Congjiang and Rongjiang, the remaining two impoverished counties in Qiandongnan Miao and Dong autonomous prefecture, Southwest China's Guizhou province, are expected to be lifted out of poverty before the end of June, according to Hangzhou's targeted poverty alleviation program.

In 2013, Hangzhou began helping Qiandongnan as part of the national targeted poverty alleviation program. Since then, the city has made significant efforts to help combat poverty in the region.

Fifteen of the 16 counties and cities under the administration of Qiandongnan were designated as national poverty-stricken counties or cities.

Over the past few years, Hangzhou has spent 2.3 billion yuan ($324 million) supporting Qiandongnan and has sent 991 skilled workers and officials to the region to aid local anti-poverty efforts.

Currently, 38 officials and more than 200 technical workers from Hangzhou are still working there.

The total number of impoverished people has been reduced from 1.21 million in 2013 to 48,600 in 2020. 13 counties have been successfully raised from poverty.

A local woman in Qiandongnan Miao and Dong autonomous prefecture, Guizhou province is employed to pick and scrub vegetables as part of Hangzhou's targeted poverty alleviation program. [Photo/zj.zjol.com.cn]

One method used to tackle poverty in Rongjiang county is to develop the area's e-commerce industry, according to Sheng Chunxia, deputy head of the county. Sheng is an official dispatched to Rongjiang by the government of Tonglu county, Hangzhou.

Sheng said that she helped introduce an e-commerce firm from Tonglu to help operate the Rongjiang e-commerce service center, which focuses on selling local Rongjiang products online.

"We also established a company to process agricultural products," Sheng said, "last year, we purchased sweet potatoes from farmers and sold them online after drying them out."

"It used to be common practice for farmers here to feed pigs with leftover sweet potatoes."