Poverty eradication on track

In recent years, I have traveled to some of the poorest areas in China's western regions in the hope of bringing back stories that will tell our readership about the nation's work to eradicate absolute poverty.

I spoke with herders on the outskirts of Lhasa, capital of the Tibet autonomous region, who had recently shaken off poverty through relocation programs that moved them closer to schools, hospitals, factories and government-funded training centers.

Many had spent their lives herding yaks and sheep among the snowcapped mountains, and had never attended school. Some younger herders said they felt stuck because of a lack of skills and capital to start a new life elsewhere.