China's Poverty Alleviation Miracle

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May 27, 2021, 06:37 ET

BEIJING, May 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A news report from chinadaily.com.cn:

Poverty alleviation is a primary indicator of, and an essential task for, the completion of the CPC's First Centenary Goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects. Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, the CPC Central Committee, with President Xi Jinping at its core, has prioritized poverty alleviation in exercising its leadership of the state and adopted creative and unique measures to wage a battle against poverty that is unprecedented in history for its scale, intensity, and the number of people affected. Following eight years of continuous endeavor, we have completed our goal of poverty alleviation on schedule. We have eliminated the problem of absolute poverty, which has plagued the Chinese nation for thousands of years, and secured a major victory that has earned worldwide acclaim.

Sound decision-making for a grand undertaking

Eliminating poverty, improving people's standard of living, and ensuring prosperity for all are essential requirements of socialism and the mission of the CPC. The Party and Chinese government have always acknowledged the importance of poverty alleviation and listed reducing poverty while increasing development among its wider economic and social development objectives. After the policy of reform and opening up was introduced in 1978, China has implemented a large-scale program of poverty alleviation. The government formulated mid- and long-term poverty reduction plans, continuously advanced poverty alleviation, and improved poverty-stricken areas and the living standards of poor people.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, President Xi and the Central Committee have relied on the efforts of the whole Party, the entire nation, and all of society to obtain victory in the battle against poverty. President Xi has personally directed operations, designed plans, and led from the front. He has travelled to concentrated areas of poverty across China. Every year his first trip outside the capital is always to inspect poverty alleviation efforts. He talks about poverty alleviation in every New Year message. Every year, he has raised the issue of reducing poverty with participants to the Two Sessions (NPC and CPPCC), issued vital instructions on National Poverty Alleviation Day, held an annual meeting to plan and advance poverty alleviation efforts, and presided over meetings to evaluate the performance of poverty alleviation. He has also repeatedly stressed the need to overcome poverty at major events, important conferences, and at key times. President Xi has brought an ethos of perseverance to China's poverty alleviation efforts, and adopted a relentless and positive approach in pursuit of victory.

At the end of 2012, President Xi visited Fuping in Hebei, an old revolutionary base, to inspect poverty alleviation efforts. During his visit, he famously said, "Rural areas are the yardstick for determining whether or not we have reached moderate prosperity," which was the prelude to China's poverty alleviation drive. While visiting Shibadong Village in Huayuan County, Hunan in 2013, President Xi introduced his strategy of "targeted poverty alleviation," which set the tone for poverty alleviation in the new era. In 2015, President Xi held a meeting on poverty alleviation and prosperity in the old revolutionary base area of Yan'an, located in a region on the borders of Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia provinces, where he pointed out the need to ensure that people in poverty-stricken areas achieve moderate prosperity in step with the rest of the country. That same year, at a meeting in Guiyang City, Guizhou Province on the theme of poverty alleviation and economic and social development during the 13th Five-Year Plan period in certain provinces and regions, he emphasized that, "Precision is the crux of poverty alleviation and must be the focus of our efforts since it will determine whether or not we succeed." After a series of investigations and studies, the Fifth Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee set out China's poverty alleviation objective. Subsequently, at the end of 2015, the CPC Central Committee held a conference on poverty alleviation and development, at which President Xi explained in his keynote speech the major goals, tasks, and measures of poverty alleviation and identified targeted poverty alleviation as China's basic strategy. After the meeting, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued the Decision on Winning the Fight against Poverty, which launched China's battle against poverty in earnest. In 2016, a meeting was held in Yinchuan, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region on promoting poverty alleviation through cooperation between China's eastern and western regions, where President Xi emphasized the necessity and wider importance of long-term regional cooperation and one-to-one assistance. In 2017, President Xi held a meeting in Taiyuan, Shanxi on fighting extreme poverty and emphasized that poverty alleviation in deeply impoverished areas would be the hardest battle to win but must be seen through to victory.

The 19th CPC National Congress in 2017 identified targeted poverty alleviation as one of the three major battles that needed to be waged. The CPC Central Committee and the State Council then issued the Guidelines on the Three-Year Action Plan to Win the Battle against Poverty, marking the start of more concerted efforts against poverty in China. In 2018, President Xi chaired a meeting in Chengdu, Sichuan on targeted poverty alleviation, in order to promote effective practices. Another meeting was held in Chongqing in 2019 on resolving outstanding issues to ensure adequate food and clothing as well as access to compulsory education, basic medical services, and safe housing for poor rural populations in areas of extreme poverty, which emphasized the importance of high-quality poverty alleviation. In 2020, faced with the sudden impact of Covid-19, President Xi took charge of the situation and made decisions backed by science. He held a meeting in Beijing on achieving a decisive victory in the battle against poverty and issued a general rallying call. After the meeting, he travelled to Shaanxi, Shanxi, Ningxia, Jilin, Anhui, and Hunan to conduct inspections, during which he insisted on firm adherence to the goals and tasks for the final year of the 13th Five-Year Plan. In December 2020, President Xi presided over a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, where he listened to poverty alleviation summaries and assessments, hailed China's important victory over poverty, provided an in-depth analysis of China's new circumstances and tasks, and issued clear instructions on consolidating and expanding achievements in poverty alleviation.

Looking back on China's spectacular poverty alleviation journey, it has involved unprecedented focus, practicality, and strength to achieve things that were previously unachievable, to overcome difficulties that had been insurmountable for so long, and to obtain a great, historic, and symbolic victory. Success in the battle against poverty has demonstrated the significant strengths of the leadership of the CPC and the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and increased the cohesion of the Party and the people across the country.

Targeted strategies to end a millennia-old problem

The CPC Central Committee made it clear that its objectives were to lift all poor rural residents above the current poverty line, remove poor counties from the poverty list, and eliminate region-wide poverty, all by 2020. The criterion for poverty alleviation among the poor was set as having annual per capita net income above the current national poverty line and ensuring adequate food and clothing as well as access to compulsory education, basic medical services, and safe housing.

All local authorities and central departments studied and implemented President Xi's philosophy on poverty alleviation, supported the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, worked to targets and standards, endorsed the Party's targeted strategy, reformed and updated every aspect of poverty alleviation systems and mechanisms, and committed themselves to completing key poverty alleviation tasks.

1. Who needs help: developing the registry of poor households

In 2014, standards and procedures for identifying poor households were formulated, and local officials were sent to villages to find out the locations of the poor, the reasons for their poverty, and what it would take to lift them out of poverty. Subsequently, a dynamic review system was established to add and remove households from the register each year and compare departmental data, which has continuously improved accuracy and established a unified national poverty alleviation information system. The compilation of a registry of poor households enabled a shift in focus of poverty data in China, from villages, to households, to individuals. This precious national poverty alleviation archive provided a solid foundation from which to implement high-quality, targeted poverty alleviation policies and measures.

2. Who should provide help: assigning carefully selected officials to the villages

Beginning in 2013, carefully selected first secretaries and village work teams were dispatched to poor villages. To date, more than 3 million village first secretaries and officials have been allocated across the country, with nearly 1 million working in any given year to assist villages. Guidance on selecting and dispatching village work teams was issued, their daily management was standardized, and assessment and incentives were strengthened. Since 2018, the Party has organized annual rotational poverty alleviation training for officials in response to difficulties that they encounter. Village first secretaries and officials play a vital role in implementing poverty alleviation policies, building strong primary-level organizations, and serving the people. They see that poverty alleviation initiatives make it through the final stretch and reach the finish line.

3. How help should be offered: applying tailored policies

Targeted poverty alleviation measures have been implemented in accordance with the requirements to consider local circumstances and to tailor policies to different villages, households, and individuals.

The policy of alleviating poverty by developing local industries, with the focus on developing industries suited to local conditions, has been implemented, which led to the formation of many industries with distinct advantages in poverty-stricken areas. A microfinance policy aimed at alleviating poverty was implemented, which provided loans of more than 710 billion yuan and supported more than 15 million poor households in developing industries. The Party established sound poverty-reducing mechanisms, which have meant that more than 70% of poor households are involved in new types of business entities.

Policies have also been introduced to alleviate poverty through developing employment, including strengthening skills training, launching labor cooperation between eastern and western regions, encouraging leading enterprises to drive employment, establishing poverty alleviation workshops, and setting up public-benefit jobs. As a result, the number of poor farmers finding jobs in urban areas increased from 12.27 million in 2015 to 32.43 million in 2020.

The policy of relocating people from inhospitable areas has been carried out. A total of 35,000 resettlement areas containing 2.66 million homes have been built, and more than 9.6 million poor people who met certain conditions and wished to move have been relocated. The construction of supporting facilities, including public services, in resettlement sites has improved, and attention has been paid to providing follow-up support.

Poverty alleviation initiatives through eco-development have been implemented, with nearly 5 million hectares of farmland in poor areas converted to forests and grasslands, about 1.1 million poor people given jobs as forest wardens, and 23,000 afforestation cooperatives established to benefit both poverty alleviation and environmental protection.

Efforts have been made to develop education to fight poverty. A total of 108,000 disadvantaged compulsory education schools in poverty-stricken areas were improved; more than 8 million junior and high school graduates from poor families received vocational education and training; and key colleges and universities recruited more than 700,000 students from poverty-stricken areas. More than 37 million rural students in compulsory education are provided with nutritious meals each year, and all dropout students from poor families have been encouraged to return to school.

Policies to reduce poverty by improving healthcare have been introduced. All poor people are now covered by basic medical insurance, critical illness insurance and medical assistance subsidies, and the actual reimbursement rate of hospitalized medical expenses for the poor increased from 50% to approximately 80%, with a total of 20.24 million poor patients receiving treatment. A total of 1,007 high-level hospitals provided paired assistance to 832 hospitals in impoverished counties, and standardized construction of rural medical and health institutions in poor counties was completed.

Dilapidated houses have been renovated to reduce poverty. All aspects of rural housing in poverty-stricken areas were inspected, and the central government's average subsidy for housing improvement in rural areas increased, which meant that houses of 25.7 million poor people from 7.9 million households were renovated.

Basic social assistance guarantees have been provided. The national average subsistence allowance for rural residents has increased from 2,068 yuan per person per year in 2012 to 5,842 yuan in the third quarter of 2020, which is provided to around 17.9 million poor people. Living subsidies for disabled people facing financial difficulties and care subsidies for severely disabled people have been provided.

Projects to develop transportation to eradicate poverty have been carried out. This move has supported the construction of backbone transportation routes in poverty-stricken areas, vigorously promoted the construction of the Good Rural Roads Initiative, and newly built or rebuilt 1.1 million kilometers of rural roads in poor areas.

Water conservation has been developed to aid in the battle against poverty. Potable water has been provided to all 28.89 million people who previously did not have access to safe water. Irrigation and drainage facilities for farmland in poverty-stricken areas have been significantly upgraded, and there have been marked improvements to flood and drought prevention as well as disaster reduction capabilities.

Power supply has been improved. Electricity is now available to the whole population; the power supply reliability of rural power grids has reached 99%; and large power grids cover all county-level administrative regions nationwide.

Internet has been made available to facilitate poverty alleviation. The proportion of poor villages with fiber optic and 4G connections now exceeds 98%. Comprehensive demonstrations of e-commerce in rural areas have been extended to all poor counties across the country, and great strides have been made in developing IT infrastructure in poor areas.

Various ways have been explored and adopted to use asset proceeds, tourism, and e-commerce to help the poor. It has implemented an innovative solar energy project to fight poverty, and national solar power capacity in poor areas has reached 18.65 million kilowatts, covering 100,000 villages, providing average annual benefits worth approximately 200,000 yuan per village. This has mainly been used to establish public-benefit jobs, implement small public welfare projects, and launch a system of micro rewards and subsidies.

4. How to determine if households have exited poverty: strictly assessing poverty eradication

Standards and procedures have been drawn up for poor counties, poor villages, and poor households to exit poverty. The State Council Leading Group for Poverty Alleviation and Development has guided 22 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities in the central and western regions in formulating rolling plans for poverty alleviation as well as annual plans to prevent procrastination or impatience. Each year, a third party conducts spot checks of counties and groups reported to have been extricated from poverty to ensure accuracy. Poverty alleviation policies will remain in place for some time in counties that have shaken off poverty to ensure their stability.

5. How to achieve stability: establishing mechanisms to keep poverty at bay

A monitoring and assistance mechanism has been established to prevent poverty from returning. This involves monitoring households that have been removed from poverty but remain in a precarious position, households on the verge of poverty, and households that have experienced sharp falls in their income due to Covid-19. It also involves providing targeted assistance to prevent people from lapsing or relapsing into poverty as well as to guard against a systemic return to poverty.

6. Focusing on key points and difficulties and deepening poverty alleviation measures

The poverty alleviation campaign has targeted the "three regions" (the Tibet Autonomous Region, Tibetan ethnic areas in the four provinces of Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu and Yunnan, and the four prefectures of Hotan, Aksu, Kashgar, and Kizilsu in southern Xinjiang) and the "three prefectures" (Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan, Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan, and Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture in Gansu) and other deeply impoverished areas that suffer from weak development foundations and entrenched poverty with increased funding, projects, and measures. Provinces and regions, meanwhile, have formulated plans to tackle ingrained problems, with all parties doing their best to fight poverty and concentrate resources on helping the poor. To ensure adequate food and clothing as well as access to compulsory education, basic medical services, and safe housing for poor rural populations, it is necessary to focus on objectives, clarify data, bring about universal solutions, and leave nobody behind. Strict supervision has been carried out to ensure completion of poverty alleviation objectives in the final year of the 13th Five-Year Plan period and victory in the fight against poverty in all localities.

7. Mobilizing extensive social forces for concerted efforts against poverty

Work has been done to utilize the socialist system's unique ability to concentrate resources to accomplish major tasks. Eastern provinces and cities and central and western provinces have carried out poverty alleviation cooperation and counterpart assistance, central agencies have launched dedicated assistance, the military is helping poor villages fight poverty, and such national organizations as trade unions, the Communist Youth League, the Women's Federation, and the China Disabled Persons' Federation have continually stepped up their assistance. Private enterprises have engaged in a campaign to provide targeted support to thousands of villages. There are plans to build a social poverty alleviation network, and social organizations and individual citizens are being encouraged to participate.

8. Investing in supervision and using funds more efficiently

The leading role of government investment has been brought to bear, with central, provincial, municipal, and county government funding for poverty alleviation reaching nearly 1.7 trillion yuan in total, and poor counties themselves allocating 1.5 trillion yuan of rural development funds toward poverty alleviation. Inter-provincial adjustments and intra-provincial transfers of funds related to the urban-rural land fluctuation index have totaled more than 440 billion yuan. The banking, insurance, and securities industries have continued to increase financial support for the fight against poverty. Approval authority for government funding of poverty alleviation has been decentralized to counties, creating a county-level poverty alleviation project database. There have been improvements to the system of informing the public of how poverty alleviation funds are spent, a crackdown on violations of discipline and law, and continuous improvements to the management and efficient use of poverty alleviation funds.

9. Strictly supervising and assessing poverty alleviation

The CPC Central Committee conducts inspections and reviews of poverty alleviation efforts, the State Council Poverty Alleviation and Development Leading Group organizes annual inspections, and China's eight other political parties also conduct supervision. Various industry departments have also strengthened their supervision. A poverty alleviation supervision and reporting helpline (12317) has been set up to expose verified problems. Assessments are carried out on the effectiveness of poverty alleviation efforts, using inter-provincial cross-assessment, third-party evaluations, performance evaluations of poverty alleviation funds, unannounced media visits, and so on. Evaluation results are, therefore, based on day-to-day working practices. With the approval of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, interviews are conducted on outstanding problems, and practical guidance is provided to overcome difficulties.

10. Strengthening publicity and guidance to foster a positive environment

A National Poverty Alleviation Award has been set up and commended a total of 128 groups and 377 individuals. In-depth reports have been released and themed publicity launched on poverty alleviation, widely publicizing advanced examples and touching stories related to poverty alleviation to communicate positivity among the public. Timely response to public opinion related to poverty has been made to address social concerns. There has been international publicity and promotion of China's poverty reduction efforts, which has spread the positive message of China's poverty alleviation.

11. Adopting effective measures to overcome Covid-19

Village first secretaries and officials who had been sent from government offices but were on holiday during the Spring Festival of 2020 quickly returned to their village posts after the outbreak of Covid-19 to tackle poverty alleviation and contain the disease. Despite a wider fall in the numbers of rural labor force nationwide, the number of poor migrant workers has increased by 10%. Efforts to reduce poverty by boosting consumption have been launched, leading to more than 300 billion yuan in total sales of poverty alleviation products. Impoverished people affected by the pandemic are being monitored and provided with the necessary assistance. After a great deal of hard work, China has effectively overcome the negative impacts of Covid-19 on its poverty alleviation efforts.

Historic achievements in poverty alleviation

All China's rural poor have been lifted above the national poverty line, and all previously impoverished counties have been removed from poverty. Absolute poverty and region-wide poverty have been eliminated in China, which has provided a solid foundation for achieving the First Centenary Goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects.

1. The living standards of China's poor have improved significantly.

Poor people in China no longer need to worry about having adequate food and clothing, and they are guaranteed access to compulsory education, basic medical services, safe housing, and potable water, significantly enhancing their feelings of fulfillment and happiness. Per capita net income of registered poor increased from 2,982 yuan in 2015 to 10,740 yuan in 2020, an average annual increase 20% higher than people in rural areas as a whole. Wage income as a proportion of operating income has increased year on year, and the proportion of transfer income has gradually fallen. As a result, quality of life has improved significantly.

2. Infrastructure in poor areas has improved dramatically.

The problems people in poor areas of China have historically encountered with roads, food and water, electricity, and communication infrastructure have been solved. All towns and villages, wherever possible, have been given access to hard roads, bus routes, and postal roads, and a number of tourist roads and "production roads" (narrow paved roads between fields) have been rebuilt. All rural areas covered by large power grids across the country are powered by electricity, and our history of drinking brackish water for thousands of years is completely over. In the past, the houses of poor people were dilapidated and empty. Nowadays, people live in pleasant dwellings that are characteristic of their local areas.

3. Public services in poor areas have improved significantly.

In poor areas, the compulsory education drop-out rate has been reduced to zero, and educational attainment and opportunities have continued to improve. People in poor areas can now receive treatment for minor illnesses in their villages and treatment for common and chronic diseases within their county, which means people no longer put off seeking treatment for minor and major illnesses due to the difficulty and expense involved. As a result, incidence of tapeworms in Qinghai and Tibet and tuberculosis in southern Xinjiang has been basically reduced to zero. The social security system in poor areas has been gradually improved, ensuring people's basic needs are met.

4. Socioeconomic development has accelerated in poor areas.

Poor areas have integrated poverty alleviation efforts with their overall economic and social development, causing industries suited to local conditions to grow, new forms of business to flourish, the environment to improve, and regional GDP to increase. Average annual growth of general public budget revenue per capita has also been higher in poor areas than the rest of the country. Cooperation on poverty alleviation between China's eastern and western regions has led to transfers of labor-intensive industries and boosted coordinated regional economy. China's 28 ethnic groups with relatively small populations have made the historic leap from poverty and backwardness to being moderately prosperous. The fight against poverty has not only benefited poor areas and poor people, but also spurred development of the entire countryside, laying a solid foundation for the overall revitalization of rural areas.

5. The spirit and appearance of poor people have changed dramatically.

In order to use development to reduce poverty, poor people who are able to work have been given help to enhance their skills, industries have been developed, and employment has been stabilized. As a result, poor people are better placed to extricate themselves from poverty. In the past, poor people often waited for handouts, but now they are empowered to improve their own circumstances. The lives of poor people in China have improved, their confidence has increased, they are happier, and their spirits have been lifted.

6. The foundations of CPC's governance in rural areas have been consolidated.

The focus on Party development to fight against poverty and carry out targeted poverty alleviation has enhanced the cohesion and effectiveness of primary-level Party organizations, and significantly improved the capabilities of primary-level officials. The collective economy has continued to develop and grow in poor villages, from almost nothing to the point that almost every village has collective income. Village first secretaries and officials have quickly become adept at tackling tough problems, and officials in charge of poverty alleviation have applied themselves diligently and passionately to practical work and solving problems for the people, leading to a closer relationship between the Party and people.

7. Valuable experience has been gained in work related to agriculture, rural areas, and rural residents as well as implementing the rural revitalization strategy.

Poverty alleviation work has involved distilling the wisdom of the whole Party and the practical experience of the people; exploring successful and effective methods of rural governance, including the management system under which the central government formulates overarching plans, provincial governments assume overall responsibility, and city and county governments take charge of implementation; Party committee secretaries at the provincial, municipal, county, township, and village levels working in coordination; establishing a registry of poor households to implement targeted policies; assigning first secretaries and officials to poverty-stricken villages; strengthening supplies of resources and factors of production; and enhancing the system for evaluating achievements in poverty alleviation. All this work plays an important role in promoting rural revitalization in the future.

8. China has made a significant contribution to reducing global poverty.

Although approximately 700 million people around the world still live in extreme poverty and the gap between the rich and the poor is increasing in many countries, China has won its battle against poverty on schedule and achieved the poverty reduction goals set out in the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 10 years early. China's wisdom and solutions of targeted poverty alleviation and the use of development to reduce poverty that it has experimented with and created are its contribution to reducing global poverty.

China's world-renowned achievements in poverty alleviation are based on the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee led by Xi Jinping, as well as the significant strengths of the CPC's leadership and the socialist system. This has led to the following discoveries.

First, China must uphold the CPC's overall leadership and strengthen political assurances. President Xi led by example and ensured Party committee secretaries at the provincial, municipal, county, township, and village levels worked together to encourage the whole Party and all the people to strive to reduce poverty. Without the personal efforts of President Xi and the wise leadership of the CPC Central Committee, it would have been impossible to obtain such an achievement.

Second, China must leverage the strengths of its system and unite its many forces. A formidable force has been assembled to fight poverty in China: the central and western regions have assumed primary responsibility for poverty alleviation; the eastern region has offered assistance to reduce poverty; competent departments have taken responsibility for their respective sectors; Party, government, and military bodies, as well as state-owned enterprises and public institutions have provided targeted assistance to poor areas; and private enterprises, social organizations, and individual citizens have fulfilled their social responsibilities.

Third, China must continue with its policy of reform and opening up and implement targeted strategies. We adhered to goal- and problem-oriented reform to reduce poverty, which led to the strategy of targeted poverty alleviation. This involved a shift toward precise measures, as opposed to the deluge of policies that were employed previously. The process of resource allocation was also altered to make it more coordinated and concentrated. The poverty alleviation model shifted from trying to inject or transplant affluence to nurturing it, and the focus of the system for evaluating poverty reduction work changed from looking at regional GDP to assessing the effectiveness of projects. This targeted strategy not only led to the smooth implementation of poverty alleviation measures but also illuminated a path for governing the country.

Fourth, China should uphold the principal role of the people and stimulate internal momentum. We must continue to help people increase confidence in their ability to lift themselves out of poverty and ensure they have access to the education they need to do so. We must give full play to the principal role of poor people in alleviating poverty, enhance their capacity to develop themselves, stimulate internal momentum, promote industrial development, increase employment, and harness their hard work to extricate them from poverty and create a better tomorrow.

Fifth, China needs to continue to overcome obstacles and commit to its work. Full and rigorous self-governance of the Party has been implemented throughout the entire process of poverty alleviation. There has been regular supervision and inspections and the most stringent assessments and evaluations to promote quality and efficiency in all our endeavors and ensure that poverty alleviation is practical, the process well founded, and the results genuine.

Sixth, China must uphold the CPC's founding mission and shoulder its responsibilities. Organizations and officials at all levels must stay true to the Party's founding mission. The 832 impoverished counties valiantly have served as beachheads in the poverty alleviation battle, and village first secretaries and officials have bravely ventured to the frontline to provide vital assistance to secure a historic victory.

(By CPC Leadership Group of the National Administration for Rural Revitalization, originally appeared in Qiushi Journal, English edition, No. 2, 2021)

SOURCE chinadaily.com.cn