On the morning of the 25^th of February, a grand ceremony was held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing to commend the nation's poverty alleviation accomplishments and honor the individuals committed. Two groups from the key poverty-stricken county Zhuanglang of Gansu Province, who received aid support from Nankai University, were presented as role models in the fight against poverty. They are the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party of Zhuanglang County and of Handian Town in Zhuanglang. Chairman Xi delivered a speech while honoring the role models in the fight against poverty.

Since Zhuanglang became an aid recipient as a key stricken area in 2012, Nankai University has been using all resources in and outside the university to provide the targeted county with assistance in education, talents, technology, industries, consumption, medical care and culture. Nankai has taken great responsibility in putting all forms of help in place in order to meet the needs of Zhuanglang and advance its development in general. Nankai’s efforts into poverty reduction have received a lot of media attention. The innovative measure of the classroom devoted to the development of both talent and virtue, which focuses on cutting off the intergenerational transmission of poverty, joined the ‘Selection of Important Cases of Poverty Alleviation’ drafted by the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development.

Over the past nine years, school leaders, cadres for poverty alleviation, experts and scholars, volunteer teachers and entrepreneur alumni from Nankai, etc. came to Zhuanglang to engage in poverty alleviation and built a strong friendship with local cadres and people. In the fight against poverty, they united together hand in hand and eventually reached remarkable results. On February 28, 2020, Gansu Municipal People's Government officially announced that Zhuanglang is no longer on the list of poverty-stricken counties. Despite that, Xu Hongshan, a cadre of our university and temporary deputy governor of Zhuanglang County, together with Shen Baoqing, a cadre of our university and first secretary of Dongmen Village, Handian Town, Zhuanglang County, still hold on to their duty to alleviate poverty.

Being lifted out of poverty is not an end in itself but the starting point of a new life and a new pursuit. Nankai University will thoroughly implement the spirit of chairman Xi’s important speech at the national commendation ceremony on poverty alleviation. By the means of consolidating and expanding the effects of poverty alleviation, and conducting all measures for rural vitalization, the results of poverty alleviation would be more solid and sustainable, the life of Zhuanglang people would be better off; thus, common prosperity will be achieved sooner.

(Reported by Junhui Wu, Translated by Meixu Wu, Edited by Davide Francolino and JianjingYun)