The "first secretary" is a term specific to China's poverty alleviation program. In early 2015, leaders of the Communist Party of China (CPC) launched a program to send this large cohort of officials to the countryside to improve rural governance and aid in poverty relief. The officials, also entrusted with the task of strengthening the CPC from a grassroots level, were sent mainly to underdeveloped areas to serve as village chiefs. The candidates were selected from a wide range of fields, including government departments, universities, state-owned enterprises and civil associations. 

Assisted by local village committees, poverty relief offices and agricultural bureaus, first secretaries learned about rural work principles and built relationships with local poor villagers, leading them in their fight against poverty.  

Their posting period ranged from one to three years, during which they don't undertake any aspect of their original city jobs, occupy positions in the village committee group.  

Cao Jun is one of 200,000 officials in China that have been sent to the front lines as "first secretaries" in the campaign to eradicate poverty.