Yaks in Zamtang county, Aba Tibetan autonomous prefecture, Southwest China's Sichuan province. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]
After receiving assistance from the city of Yueqing for three years, Zamtang county in Southwest China's Sichuan province has now found a way to prosperity by selling thousands of yaks raised on its plateaus to the dining tables of people in eastern China.
Though Zamtang breeds 200,000 yaks every year, the once impoverished region was only able to sell a tiny fraction of the livestock to other parts of the country because of its limitations in transportation and marketing.
After learning of these problems, Yueqing came up with a bunch of solutions, including sending groups of entrepreneurs on field trips to Zamtang, inviting experts to enhance breeding skills, building new roads for yak transportation, and raising funds from both the government budget and social assistance.
A total of 569 rural families in Zamtang have benefited from the pairing assistance, which saw them selling over 5,000 yaks to and taking in a combined revenue of 45.58 million yuan ($7.13 million) last year.
Yueqing has also offered 25.65 million yuan in government funds to Zamtang and raised 6.55 million yuan in social assistance funds in 2020. Fifty-seven Yueqing companies have offered 460 jobs to Zamtang residents, while nine schools and 12 hospitals have also been paired with Zamtang to enhance its educational and medical capabilities.
