O n July 16， to implement CPC General Secretary Xi Jinping’s instructions on ensuring a better life for people in old revolutionary base areas and the decisions and plans made by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China for aligning efforts to consolidate and augment the achievements in poverty alleviation with the efforts to promote rural revitalization， CPAFFC President Lin Songtian led a team from the association to Xing county， Shanxi province， an old revolutionary base area and the designated county for the CPAFFC to provide assistance in rural revitalization. The visit aimed to put in place projects for providing targeted assistance and explore measures to step up rural revitalization. Zhang Yangbin， deputy secretary-general of the CPAFFC and representatives from seven departments of the association joined the team.
　　Multinational companies， including Qualcomm， Amway （China）， Panasonic and Canon， as well as philanthropic bodies such as the China Charities Aid Foundation for Children， Give2Asia and Oxfam， donated healthcare kits for children， printers， bicycles and eye-protection lamps to Lvliang city and Xing county. They also provided training programs for rural doctors and helped install solar road lamps in Shahao village. Altogether， the donation was valued at more than 3.4 million yuan （$548，400）.
　　In Shahao village， Caijiaya township， Xing county， Lin witnessed the completion of the second-phase of a solar street light installation project and the donation of eye-protection lamps from Panasonic. At 120 Division School， Lin attended a CPAFFC donation ceremony and made a speech after watching a performance showing the association’s cultural assistance program. Lin also visited venues displaying grains branded “Shahao Village”and paper-cutting artworks， a new camp of Xing county’s vocational education center， an aluminum and magnesium industrial park of the economic and technology development zone and a production center in the Maputan vil-lage demonstrating how poverty is alleviated by development of industries.

　　At the donation ceremony and performance， various bodies donated materials to Xing county’s governmental departments and schools， witnessed by representatives of the schoolchildren. Students from the county’s middle schools and primary schools， including the 120 Division School， sang in a chorus to create a joyous atmosphere. 　　Lin thanked the donors for their support of the county’s cause of poverty alleviation and rural revitalization. Noting that Xing county is a renowned revolutionary base area， Lin said that since its was designated as the target of the CPAFFC’s poverty alleviation efforts in 2015， the association has taken targeted poverty alleviation as one of its major political responsibilities. It has utilized resources in people-to-people diplomacy to raise money to help with the county’s poverty alleviation efforts and train officials at the grassroots level.
　　Lin said he was impressed by the moves taken in recent years by the Party Committee and government of Xing county to implement the Communist Party of China Central Committee’s plans for poverty alleviation and rural revitalization.
　　“They have written the original aspiration and founding mission of the Party on the land of the old revolutionary base area and in people’s hearts，”he said.
　　Based on the resources and advan- tages of Xing county， the association has initiated new thoughts and measures to consolidate its achievements in poverty alleviation， and helped it align its efforts with those promoting rural revitalization.
　　Lin said the sound of the horn of rural revitalization has been heard. The CPAFFC will continue implementing the oral and written instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping and the major decisions and plans made by the CPC Central Committee on targeted poverty alleviation， and will never give up its responsibilities， change its policies， stop its assistance or lift its supervision concerning poverty alleviation despite the victories gained by Xing county. The association will bring its advantages in people-to-people diplo-macy into full play， utilize international and domestic resources to promote the development of special industries in Xing county and help it find markets for its products， improve the openness of its economy and empower its selfsustained economic growth. The association will work with the county to consolidate and expand its poverty alleviation achievements and help it make new practical achievements in rural revitalization.
　　Representatives of the companies that have made donations said that they would deepen cooperation with the CPAFFC to help Xing county consolidate its poverty alleviation achievements， realize rural revitalization and earn a better life for people of the revolutionary base area.
　　According to Tian Xiaoqin， who teaches at the 120 Division School， children in the base area， especially those left at home by migrant-worker parents， had the opportunity to walk out of mountain valleys and travel abroad to Japan to join the China-Japan-ROK Youth Painting and Calligraphy Exhibitions， thanks to the help of the CPAFFC. They developed a better understanding of Chinese culture and its world influence， as well as stronger cultural confidence and better habits of learning. The schoolteacher thanked the association for supporting education in the old revolutionary base area.

　　Participants at the event included Li Yue’e， president of the Shanxi People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and former vicechair of the Standing Committee of Shanxi Provincial People’s Congress； Wu Shaozhong， executive vice-president of the SPAFFC and director general of Shanxi Foreign Affairs Office； Tian Anping， a member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Lvliang Municipal Committee and vice-mayor of Lvliang； and Liang Wenzhuang， deputy secretary of the CPC’s Xing County Committee and mayor of Xing county.