Shanghai river clean-up leaves boat-dwellers in limbo

This picture taken on April 2, 2017 shows boats berthed on the riverbanks of Xinchapu river in Shanghai. -AFP

SHANGHAI: Li Chaoqing fled his poverty-stricken Chinese hometown at age 14 for a new life in Shanghai, where he raised five children in a disused old boat on a polluted river.

But Li, now a 53-year-old garbage collector, faces eviction along with about 200 other squatters living in decaying vessels on the Xinchapu River as officials push a river clean-up campaign.