China
China is the most populous country in the world with over 1.3 billion people. Although it is fast becoming an economic superpower, over 120 million Chinese still live on less than $1 a day.

China’s economic boom has also created serious pollution, contaminating rivers in particular. Water safety is a huge issue as over 70% of the water in one of the major river systems is now too polluted for human use.

Rural Poverty
As people in the cities are getting wealthier, people in most rural areas remain in deep poverty, and the income gap between the two continues to grow.

The western and central regions of China remain underdeveloped, with poor infrastructure and limited access to education and healthcare. Difficult access to some villages, high levels of illiteracy and language barriers have obstructed government attempts to tackle rural poverty.

Minority groups

The western regions of China are home to many of the country’s minority groups. It is estimated that minorities make up around 40% of those living below the poverty line.

Many of these minority groups are Muslim. The Hui are the largest of ten distinct Muslim ethnic groups. There are around 9 million Hui, living mainly in the western and northern regions of the country.

Islamic Relief in China

Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW) began its work in China responding to floods in the Shaanxi province in 2002. New homes were built in four villages in Ningshang county, in partnership with the local population, helping hundreds of homeless flood survivors.

Today, IRW works with local organisations in the drought-affected western and central provinces of Shaanxi, Xinjiang, Ningxia, Hunan and Gansu.

Projects include rainwater-harvesting, irrigation development and girls’ education. IRW is also working with Chinese organisations to develop their nationwide disaster preparedness and relief programmes.

Approximately 29,500 people received IRW’s seasonal Ramadhan and Qurbani food distributions last year which have been taking place in China since 2002.