Over the past two years, Tai'an has achieved remarkable success in reducing poverty.

With the number of impoverished villages having decreased from 464 at the end of 2015 to 20 this year, the Tai'an government has successfully lifted a significant number of residents out of poverty, reducing the number from 142,400 to 12,600.

Located in East China's Shandong province, Tai'an, one of the cradles of Chinese civilization centered on Mount Tai, enjoys the reputation of being a historical and culturally rich city.

Sun Shuhua, a 70-year-old villager living in the Wei Jiazhuang village, a poverty-stricken area in the Tai Shan District of Tai'an, is one example of someone who has been alleviated from poverty.

In 2016, Sun was living in poverty due to the lack of labor force in her family and the need to support her grandchild.

Sun, stubborn and independent, insists on working to support her family. Based on the experience accumulated in her previous work of farming strawberries, she got a job in which she is responsible for maintaining and managing the strawberry grown in greenhouses, earning a salary of 1500 yuan ($234.3) per month.

Over the past two years, Sun has been able to realize a fixed annual income of over 20,000 yuan, with her salary, pension and subsidies included, which is comfortably enough for her family expense, so she is no longer living in poverty.

Sun is just one example of an increasing list of people in Tai'an who are living more and more comfortable lives, as the government is focused on implementing policies related to poverty alleviation and is investing heavily in these.

With the support of national policies and the efforts made by the Tai'an government, more achievements can hopefully be expected in poverty alleviation in Tai'an.