BEIJING, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Hailing from a small village in southwestern China, lawmaker Nong Ning'an is in Beijing attending the top legislature's annual session, where he will submit a proposal for further developing border rural areas after the country's poverty eradication.

Nong is the president of an agriculture cooperative in Mugang Village, Funing County in the border province of Yunnan. For years, the 46-year-old has been pondering how to better develop the tropical fruit business of his village.

Once a remote backwater tucked away in the mountains on the China-Vietnam border, the village bid farewell to penury last year thanks to China's poverty alleviation efforts, which included infrastructure improvement and development of local industries.

Now the village is pursuing a new dream of prosperity and well-being as the country is vigorously advancing rural vitalization strategy following its victory in eradicating absolute poverty nationwide.

"We are planning to expand the planting area of passion fruits, mangoes and citrus fruits, and build cold storages for the tropical fruits this year," Nong said, adding that they also plan to use e-commerce platforms to broaden sales channels and help Mugang villagers make more money.

For Nong, the well-being of his fellow villagers has always been a prime concern.

Formerly a well-off tea factory owner and mushroom trader, he ran for and was elected the Party chief of Mugang in 2013 and has since spearheaded local poverty relief efforts.

Memories of the old days are fresh in his mind. The village was marred by poor infrastructure and adverse natural environment, and locals could barely make ends meet.

"Sugarcane cultivation was the sole source of income, but the yield was very low because Mugang is located in a karst area with poor soil quality," Nong recalled.

Things started to change with the launch of poverty relief projects in the last few years -- concrete roads were paved, and tap water has been available since 2018 thanks to an infrastructure construction program.

Nong and other officials also made a detailed plan for developing local industries, introducing tropical fruit cultivation, mushroom farming and other lucrative businesses to the village.

The plan was formulated according to local conditions -- the village's most fertile land was used for planting the more profitable tropical fruits, while the less productive land on the mountains was earmarked for growing grass and herding cattle.

Nong said the plan was well conceived after he learned more about related national policies. He also exchanged views on poverty relief with other national lawmakers since his election as a deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC) in 2018.

Thanks to these efforts, Mugang shrugged off poverty in 2020. Now the villagers make some 13,000 yuan (about 2,000 U.S. dollars) a year each.

Mugang is the epitome of China's comprehensive poverty eradication endeavor, which had lifted nearly 100 million rural residents out of poverty since 2012.

Building on its victory in the anti-poverty battle, the country is pushing ahead with higher-level development in its vast rural areas.

Early this year, Nong withdrew from the election for the village Party chief to focus on fulfilling his duties as the NPC deputy and serving the interests of a much larger community.

His proposal for this year's NPC session centers on rural vitalization in the country's border areas, calling for strengthened construction of supportive infrastructure to foster local industries.

He advised building more cold storages and cold-chain facilities in the border regions to better preserve locally produced agricultural products and thus encourage farmers to expand planting areas.

He also called for more policy and fiscal support for the development of small enterprises and cooperatives in rural areas.

"The sustained development of local industries is key to further improving the livelihood of rural residents especially in border areas," Nong said. Enditem

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