On the 7th National Poverty Alleviation Day & the 28th International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, the School of International Education of WTU invited Xiao Shuguang, the "first secretary" of Hongqiping Village in Wufeng, Yichang to share his poverty alleviation experience and give the international students a vivid "Overview of China" lesson. More than 80 international students from 9 countries,including  Russia , Pakistan , Ghana  and  India , attended the class in person or via video link. 

“Wufeng Hongqiping village, located in remote mountains, was widely known as an impoverished area in the past”, Xiao Zhuguang said. The income of in 2014 was just around 3,000 yuan per villager, which has increase to 13,000 yuan thanks to the 5-year joint efforts of villagers and the anti-poverty project made by the Chinese government. The village officially shook off poverty in December 2019. Back to 2018, Xiao Shuguang took the initiative to apply to be an official responsible for poverty alleviation in the village. He said, “In the past, the village facilities were old and dilapidated; now it has access to clean water, electricity and the internet. New roads have been built. There is a huge change on the rural infrastructure and both the living standards and mental wellbeing of villagers have improved immensely.”

“What is the greatest difficulty you have met in your job?” “What have you done during the first year of your work?” the students asked. He answered, “the most difficult part is to change the conservatism and stereotype of villagers. It’s a hard process that requires patience and circumspection.”

Rose, an international student from  Ghana , said:“ In the past few years, more than 80 million people got rid of extreme poverty. I really agree with the poverty alleviation policy of the Chinese government. Only by winning the true feelings and trust from the people can poverty alleviation efforts succeed, which inspires us a lot.” Mubshra from Pakistan wanted to have a comprehensive understanding of the poverty alleviation practice. Xiao Shuguang explained patiently, “In addition to poverty alleviation by local officials in the village, there are also diversified and multi-level poverty alleviation measures such as policy, industry, education, and paired assistance, which help mobilize all the powers of society. This is great poverty alleviation for all people.” Li Na from  Russia  and Rose from  Ghana  both proposed: “There are also many poor people in our countries, but they haven't drawn enough attention from the government and society.

 Why does the Chinese government help the poor?” Xiao Shuguang said firmly: “It’s a traditional Chinese virtue to assist the poor. The Chinese government has been encouraging the well-off to help the poor and cities to help the rural areas so as to achieve common prosperity. "