Intangible cultural heritage, tourism key to poverty reduction

Poverty alleviation supported by culture and tourism has been the focus of NPC deputies, CPPCC members, and the general public, said Li Jinzao, vice minister of Chinese culture and tourism, at a routine policy briefing by the State Council on last Saturday.

"Fighting poverty with culture" mainly refers to supporting the country's intangible cultural heritage, Li said. To do so, governments need to support the development of heritages and help popularize their craftsmanship among disadvantaged households so they can shake off poverty by mastering the relevant techniques.

"Under the sponsorship of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in 2019, more than 2,000 intangible cultural heritage workshops have been built around the country, serving as a driving force for more than 2,200 projects," Li said, adding the workshops have trained nearly 180,000 people and provided job opportunities to about 500,000 people, thus lifting over 200,000 registered poor families out of poverty.

The vice minister also pointed out combating poverty through developing local tourism has accounted for 17 to 20 percent of the country's overall poverty alleviation efforts, and in some areas, the number has even exceeded 30 percent.

As an emerging industry, tourism boasts a huge market and strong vitality and can pump fresh blood into many other industries. Therefore, some poor areas with tourism resources have already stepped up their efforts to capitalize. Their efforts are a case in point of implementing targeted poverty-reduction measures with Chinese characteristics, Li said.