China's economic development has lifted masses out of poverty but there are still many who have been left behind. There are those who barely make ends meet and those who survive with the charitable help of others. Our reporter Ning Hong goes to Zanhuang county of Hebei Province, and understands what it means to be a breadwinner during one's formative years.

Only seven years old, Li Xiaoqian carries a heavy burden. She is the sole caretaker of her parents - a blind father and mother with mental diseaese.

"What can I say, she knew that I couldn't do it, so she undertakes all the hard work," Li said.

Part of the daily ritual for the first grader involves cooking and then feeding the disabled parents.

Li's family receives 300 Yuan of income insurance each month. The paltry income is supplemented by harvest from these 40 walnut trees. Such austerity means that Li counts each penny spent, most of which goes to food. Instant noodles are considered a treat.

"There are instant noodles at 98 grams that are sold for one Yuan, the other kind retails at two Yuan- I prefer to buy the cheaper ones," Li said.

Li shoulders a responsibility fit for an adult. As she teaches her mother to read, her role as a child is seemingly reversed with her parent.

"When I slept by her side once, my mum hugged me with a hand placed on me. I felt so warm and happy," Li said.

The new school semester has began and Li has managed to procure a place at a boarding school without any charge. The family is now faced with a predicament. Should the girl attend school, the parents would be left in the lurch. But her father is insisting that Li's education is more important.

"I would rather suffer more than have her waste a future by taking care of me," Li Shuying, father of Li Xiaoqian, said.

With education as a path out of poverty, the child understands that she carries all of her family's aspirations for a better life and hopes she can become a doctor some day.

Poverty in China involves a multitude of different factors. Sickness and low income render individuals at risk, while donations from charity don't solve the root causes. As the country lacks a safety net for welfare, it needs to enact more channels and mechanisms from institutions to assist families to break out of the cycle.

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