Combo photo shows 26-year-old Lu Rongping, a poverty alleviation data collector, posing for a picture (main image in the layout); and Lu performing his duties (smaller images in the right-side column), in Gangwei Village of Dapo Township, Rong'an County, southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Oct. 21, 2019. Lu joined the military upon graduation from college in 2015. When he retired from the ranks in 2017, he decided to work under poverty alleviation programs in his hometown. Hemmed in a mountainous area where stony desertification holds sway, Rong'an County in southwest China has been struggling against dire poverty that is aggravated by population aging and loss of labour force. In the past years, many from the post-1990s generation have played active roles at the forefront of local poverty alleviation campaigns. Embracing a range of professions, the younger generation working in Rong'an helps pour renewed vigour to a county eager to throw off the shackles of destitution. Statistics show that the county's poverty rate dropped to 3.03 percent in 2018, down from 23.68 percent two years ago. Some 47,500 residents in the county have been lifted out of poverty during the same period. At the moment, 6,761 residents are still in need of help before they overcome poverty. (Xinhua/Huang Xiaobang)
