On April 3, to implement President Xi’s guidance on poverty relief given during the recently-held “Two Sessions”, the MOE, the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development (LGOPAD), the National Language Working Committee (NLWC), China Mobile and iFlytek signed a Strategic Cooperation Framework Agreement on Poverty Alleviation through Mandarin Chinese Promotion in Kunming, Yunnan province, to jointly carry out the project of developing a mobile app for Mandarin Chinese learning. The signing ceremony was attended by Vice Education Minister Tian Xuejun, Vice President of China Mobile Dong Xin, Vice Director of Policy and Regulation Department of LGOPAD Chen Hongbo and President of iFlytek Liu Qingfeng.

As a new initiative to implement the Action Plan for Poverty Alleviation through Mandarin Chinese Promotion 2018-2020 jointly issued by the MOE, LGOPAD and NLWC, the project focuses on improving the Mandarin proficiency of people living in the least developed regions and those registered under the National Anti-Poverty Information Network System. Fueled by IT technologies, the project aims to establish an independent learning platform that facilitates Mandarin learning anytime and anywhere, as a way to boost employment and combat poverty.

It is reported that China Mobile would design customized mobile phones and provide network security services for the project, and iFlytek was expected to develop the mobile app by leveraging its artificial intelligence technologies.