Say goodbye to rain and river water and say hello to clean tap water; step off from the rutted dirt road and step onto the spacious cement road; move out from the thatched cottage and move into a beautiful new house; stay in on weekdays, and earn money by working at home. With the help of Chinese poverty alleviation experts, a few villages along the Mekong River have undergone positive changes, much to the delight of all the villagers.

At the 17th ASEAN Plus Three (Japan-China-Republic of Korea) Summit，China proposed to implement the “Cooperation Initiative on Poverty Reduction in East Asia”. In accordance with the proposal, China launched the East Asia Poverty Reduction Demonstration Cooperation Technical Assistance Projects in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar in 2017.

China has worked on two villages from each of the three countries as its pilot projects. It has sent poverty alleviation experts to assist in infrastructure construction, community public services, industrial development and capacity building, so as to set an example for East Asian countries in poverty reduction.

Now, 4000 people have access to tap water, 82 households have access to electricity, 71 homes have been rebuilt, 190 homes have been reconstructed, 132 homes have newly built toilets, 500 households have been equipped with fuel-saving stoves, 200 households have implemented “courtyard economy”, 80 households have planted millet pepper, 28 households are engaged in high-temperature mushroom cultivation, 40 households have become model cattle farmer households, and 2 new dishwashing liquid processing plants have been built. The data collected from the two poverty reduction demonstration villages reflect China's efforts in combatting poverty in Cambodia.

The same poverty reduction stories are being told in Myanmar and Laos. In November 2019, more than 90 representatives from 10 ASEAN countries, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and other international organizations visited Aye Chan Thar Village in Myanmar and praised it for being a model village demonstrating successful international poverty reduction.

As for the villages in Vientiane, Laos, China has not only assisted in the construction of roads, bridges, medical clinics, teachers' dormitories, teaching facilities and electric power facilities, but has also carried out training sessions for villagers, teaching them beneficial skills such as weaving, planting corn and raising cattle.