China's e-commerce giant Alibaba announced Friday that it is setting up a fund dedicated to poverty eradication, committing 10 billion yuan (US$1.5 billion) over the next five years.

The fund will focus on programs in the fields of education, entrepreneurship, empowering women and environmental protection, according to Jack Ma, chairman of Alibaba Group.

Ma serves as the chairman of the fund.

Contribution to the fund will come from Alibaba's 36 partners and employees, said a statement from the company. Alibaba Foundation, a charity set up in 2011 that uses 0.3 percent of Alibaba's annual revenue for social responsibility programs, will give additional support, it said.

The fund will publish a work report every six months and engage 30 independent observers to oversee the money allocation.

Alibaba said its poverty relief efforts are more than about money. The tech giant will offer its expertise and technology to help the rural poor to use the Internet to improve their lives.

China's private companies are becoming a force to reckon with in poverty reduction.

In October 2015, the All China Federation of Industry and Commerce launched a precise poverty-relief campaign targeting private enterprises. By the end of 2016, the campaign involved 26,500 enterprises, benefiting 3.88 million rural poor people. 

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