Farmers in Yanbian Korean autonomous prefecture, Jilin province, celebrate the rice harvest on the paddy field claimed by residents in Ningbo, Zhejiang province. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Ningbo, a port city in Zhejiang province with a booming country-leading economy, has been playing a major role in the nation's east-west cooperation for poverty relief since 1996, echoing the call to push for poverty alleviation through coordinated efforts.

Over the past two decades, the city has been offering a helping hand to less-developed regions, including Yanbian Korean autonomous prefecture in Jilin province and Qianxinan Bouyei and Miao autonomous prefecture in Guizhou province.

Zhetuo Benye (Ningbo) Tractor Manufacture Co Ltd, which focuses on producing tractors for agricultural use, invested 200 million yuan ($28.3 million) in October to set up a manufacturing base in Antu county of Yanbian.

The company said it hopes that its Yanbian plant will exert its advantages in developing and manufacturing tractors to cover Northeast China.

The base aims to produce 20,000 tractors each year and generate annual sales value of 1 billion yuan upon completion.

Wang Xinghong, chairman of the tractor firm, said the Yanbian factory has so far employed nearly 30 local people, including five from impoverished households.

"Since last year, employees in Yanbian have been sent in batches to the Ningbo headquarters for training courses," said Wang, hoping that the factory can contribute to boosting the economic growth there and improving people's livelihoods.

Over the next five years, the company will help the local government build an industrial park accommodating companies related to agricultural machinery, according to Wang.

With a planned area of 13.3 hectares, the park is expected to generate a production value of 5 billion yuan each year.

Paddy-sharing, another agricultural project in Yanbian, has proved successful in lifting local farmers' incomes with support from Ningbo residents.

Launched in 2018, the project encourages the residents to claim paddies in Yanbian by paying 1,000 yuan for 50 kilograms of rice grown on these paddies a year, a direct way to benefit local farmers.

Once paddies are claimed, the planting, processing and delivery of rice on the fields can be monitored by buyers in Ningbo via an application on their mobile phones.