Financial grants give youth a fighting chance

The financial assistance offered by Kweichow Moutai was just what 18-year-old Wei Suyu from Congjiang county in Guizhou province needed to fulfill her dream of going to university.

Wei and other aspiring students from poor rural areas received the grants worth 5,000 yuan ($723) from the liquor giant at an event hosted in Congjiang on Aug 20.

"Moutai's help has really relieved the financial pressure on me and my family," Wei said.

Coming from a poor rural household, Wei was aware that she would have difficulty affording to go to university, but that didn't blunt her determination, instead she sought financial assistance elsewhere.

Pan Hongke, 19, from Yaogui village in Congjiang, also received a grant at the event.

Before receiving the financial assistance, Pan had planned to borrow money from friends and apply for a state loan.

Moutai began handing out financial awards to poor students in 2012 and donates 100 million yuan to the China Youth Development Foundation every year. The funds are used to help those who receive college and university places that year.

The group has donated a total of 914 million yuan through the event, benefiting 182,800 students.

At the event in Congjiang, Du Fuguo, a soldier who was blinded and lost his arms in an explosion, delivered an inspiring speech to the students.

Shi Shuping, from the Dong ethnic group in Guizhou, spoke at the conference as a representative of recipients. "No matter life is smooth or rough, it is necessary to respect life with continuous self-improvement," Shi said.

Shi received financial assistance from Moutai in 2015 and is now is a master's student at Minzu University of China. Shi said she remembers how she felt receiving the university admission letter in 2015.

At that time, Shi's mother made clothes away from home in Guangzhou and earned 3,000 to 4,000 yuan a month. Her father looked after three children at home.

Shi said her parents had mixed feelings of grief and joy when the admission letter arrived as they could not afford her tuition.

"The Moutai grant solved my living costs for the first semester as a freshman, giving me confidence and hope," Shi said.

Shi said she wants to work in a higher-learning institution in Guizhou studying the language of the Dong ethnic group after graduation.

A video played at the conference showed how several students helped by Moutai had become model employees in their work.

As of the end of July, the Moutai grants have helped 100,000 people go to university.

"They have lifted themselves out of poverty by their own efforts," Li Jingren from Moutai said.

Li added it was the company's great honor to witness the dreams of impoverished families come true.

A 2019 survey found that 96.14 percent of the recipients said they "feel warmth and support from society and have more positive energy "and 95.57 percent of them said they "are more willing to help others" after receiving the subsidies.

Liang Yongliang, 18, received top marks in science in the national college entrance examination in Congjiang this year, and got an admission letter from Tianjin University. He also received the Moutai grant at the conference. "I think Moutai offers help in a wider sphere and aids those who really need it," Liang said.

Guo Meijian, president of the China Youth Development Foundation, said: "Moutai has made outstanding contributions to the healthy growth of young people and society's common prosperity in the past nine years."