A close look at an oil-tea fruit. [Photo/cnnb.com.cn]

A complete oil-tea industrial chain has been formed in Ceheng county in Qianxinan Bouyei and Miao autonomous prefecture, Guizhou province with the support of Ningbo, Zhejiang province.

The county was paired with Ningbo under the east-west poverty relief cooperation program launched by the central government.

The plantation area of oil-tea trees in Ceheng now stands at 280,000 mu (18,666.6 hectares) and has an annual output of 240 million yuan ($36.92 million). The flourishing industry has helped more than 100,000 local farmers, including 22,000 impoverished individuals, increase their incomes, according to official data.

Wang Guangxian, chairman of the Biyou town people's congress, said that the technical support provided by Ningbo's Jiangbei district has reduced the time needed for oil-trees to bear fruit from eight years to just two or three years.

He said more than 1,400 poverty-stricken families in Biyou have each been given 500 grafted oil-tea tree seedlings this year. These seedlings are expected help them gain an increase of 6,000 yuan in annual income after three years.