New financial assistance program aimed at residents who live on less than $1.25 a day

Sichuan province is pledging to lift 5 million residents living on less than $1.25 a day out of poverty by 2020 by replacing direct assistance with a loan program to help villagers in the remote mountains and nomads on the grasslands start their own businesses.

The provincial authority implemented the new financial assistance program in July 2014, creating a special fund that serves as collateral for interest-free and low-interest loans. Township governments are responsible for helping borrowers choose appropriate businesses.