Tibet has beefed up its efforts to alleviate poverty by registering the targeted poor and issuing certificates, reducing the number by 500,000 over the past four years, according to Xinhua.

Tsamjo, 60,lives in Gachong Village, a suburb of the capital Lhasa. Her income from raising chickens supports the household. With help from the County Poverty Alleviation Office，she entered the village’s Chicken raising cooperative, which purchases eggs from the chickens it provides her. Last year she earned 5，000 yuan plus a dividend of 1,800 yuan from the cooperative.

"Thanks to 700,000 yuan in funding allocated by the government last year, our chicken breeding business has expanded. Now we have begun to help 70 poor households to shake off poverty," said Kelzang Tsering,head of Gachong Village Chicken Breeding Cooperative.

Like Tsamjo, all people in poverty have received the certificates for targeted poverty reduction programs.

"It is essential to find the exact targeted poor people in order to reduce and eliminate poverty," said Hu Xinsheng, director of the Poverty Alleviation Office of the Tibet Autonomous Region. To this end, the Office has set up a system to register all poor households, analyze the causes of poverty and earmark ad hoc funds.

Tibet has also targeted those it deems "more capable" for shaking off poverty as a major force. It wants this specific group to lead the way in reducing poverty in the region.

"Thanks to the funding of 700,000 yuan allocated by the government last year, our chicken breeding business has expanded. Now we have begun to help 70 poor households to shake poverty, "said Kelzang Tsering,head of Gachong Village Chicken Breeding Cooperative.

"These people are experienced, smart and skillful who can lead other people," say Tsering. "Supporting them to run some businesses has increased the incomes of the poor but also ensures income dividends. This is the remarkable result of the poverty alleviation program," said Tsering.

In addition, Tibet has taken other measures such as pairing two households to help each other to alleviate poverty, providing business training as well as setting up a performance appraisal system for government staff.

The number of poor people in Tibet has decreased from 833,000 at the end of 2010 to 327,000 today. The percentage of those targeted for poverty reduction to the total population in the rural and pastoral areas has gone down from 18.73 percent in 2013 to 13.63 percent today.