Main Venue in Beijing

    Organized by the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation (CFPA) and the People's Government of Pengshui County under the guidance of the Central Foreign Affairs Office, the meeting received attendants of more than 40 well-known enterprises at home and abroad, including FrieslandCampina, Sunshine Insurance Group, CapitaLand, FAW Group and TAL Education Group.

    Zheng Wenkai, president of CFPA, pointed out that the meeting has provided a platform for the People's Government of Pengshui County and enterprises to exchange with each other.

Speech by Zheng Wenkai

    "We will make full use of the advantages of CFPA, mobilize more social resources and forces, and work together to further promote the development of Pengshui County," said Zheng.

    Though the county threw off the title of a national poverty-stricken county this February, it still faces enormous difficulties and challenges in its poverty alleviation work. Under the circumstances, philanthropic enterprises are expected to continue to assist Pengshui County and help boost its economic and social development, according to Jiang Peng, full-time deputy secretary and director of the Poverty Alleviation Office of the Party Committee of the Central Foreign Affairs Office.

    Pengshui is a county that the Central Foreign Affairs Office has been designated to help shake off poverty since 2015. The Central Foreign Affairs Office has raised 63.74 million yuan and trained 396 grassroots cadres and technicians for Pengshui County since then.

    Pengshui Autonomous County (Miao and Tujia Ethnic Groups) is located in the southeast of Chongqing, about 200 kilometers away from the Chongqing downtown, with an area of 3,903 square kilometers. It has 39 villages and towns (streets) under its jurisdiction, a registered population of 700,000 and a permanent resident population of about 500,000.

    Renowned for the beauty of Ayi River, Mowei Mountain and Wujiang Gorge Scenic Area of Yanhe (Wujiang Gallery), Pengshui County boasts a charming natural environment.  Pengshui is the only county in Chongqing whose population is predominantly Miao, which is over 300,000, embracing rich ethnic custom and unique culture of ethnic groups. Historically speaking, Pengshui, founded in the early Han Dynasty 2,000 years ago, has a time-honored cultural tradition. As the political, economic, military and cultural center during the Tang and Song Dynasties(618-1279), it attracted plenty of well-known historic celebrities such as Zhangsun Wuji (a distinguished politician in Tang Dynasty) and Huang Tingjian (a famed calligrapher in Song Dynasty). In recent years, centering on the three distinctive characteristics of “nationality, ecology and culture”, with tourism as its pillar industry, Pengshui County has achieved remarkable economic and social progress through vigorously conserving its ecology and developing tourism. With the completion of the Chongqing-Hunan High-speed Railway that passes through Pengshui in 2024, the County will be linked with other parts of Chongqing Municipality by only half-an-hour’s ride, embracing an even brighter prospect of economic and social development.