Over the past two decades, more than 60,000 people living in poor areas of China have settled in a new home – Minning Town.

闽宁镇，这个当年由习近平亲自命名的扶贫移民区，已从一个“天上无飞雀，地上不长草，风吹沙石跑”的荒芜之地，发展成为常住居民6万余人的特色小镇。

This poverty alleviation scheme was set up in 1997 by Xi Jinping, who was then deputy Party chief of Fujian Province. Xi was in charge of Fujian’s effort to assist Ningxia. He proposed a resettlement programme, under which entire village communities in poorer areas such as Xihaigu would be moved to the more fertile land near the Yellow River.

1997年，福建和宁夏启动了对口扶贫协作。作为起点，闽宁镇从无到有、由弱到强，见证了闽、宁携手从单向扶贫到互利共赢的20载。

Under this new initiative, the Ningxia region would receive a helping hand from the prosperous east coast province of Fujian. The system Xi pioneered in Minning is now spreading across China.

2016年7月19日，习总书记到闽宁镇视察时曾给予高度肯定并指出：“闽宁镇从当年的‘干沙滩’变成了今天的‘金沙滩’，探索出了一条康庄大道，我们要把这个宝贵经验向全国推广。”

The Fujian-Ningxia partnership has been operating for 20 years. In that time, 66,000 people have been relocated to Minning Town. Across Ningxia, 1.16 million people have benefited from the “Relocation and Transplantation” program.

如今，曾经的戈壁荒滩变成了现代化的生态移民示范镇，6万多名曾经生活在贫困山区的农民走出大山搬入闽宁镇，通过移民搬迁走上了脱贫致富之路。