Priorities and Major Achievements on Poverty Alleviation in China
Original, GPIG, 11-09-2017
In carrying out the targeted poverty alleviation strategy, much attention will be paid to the issues as to who are the needy for assistance, who are responsible for the work, what assistance measures should be adopted, and how to implement an exit mechanism for those who have been lifted out of poverty. Priorities will be given to the following aspects in the poverty alleviation campaign.
Creating profiles for impoverished people nationwide
In 2014, the Chinese Government conducted a nationwide survey to collect accurate information on the poor population and created profiles on them. Organized by the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities sent 800,000 staff to villages for field investigation. They registered 128,000 poor villages, 29.48 million poor households and 89.62 million people living in poverty. The registration work gathered information such as the distribution of the country’s impoverished population, causes of poverty and requirements for overcoming poverty and helped establish a unified information system for development-oriented poverty alleviation. From August 2015 to June 2016, a second-round registration program involving nearly 2 million staff members was conducted to update the figure. In this round, 8.07 million people were added to the registration list while 9.29 million were removed for being misidentified. Creating profiles for impoverished people has enriched China’s official data on poverty alleviation, providing important reference for its five-pronged initiative policies on targeted poverty alleviation.
Sending work teams to impoverished villages
Based on the policy arrangement of the central authorities, work teams are sent to all impoverished villages to ensure every poor household is covered. In total, 775,000 government staff members nationwide have been appointed to temporary posts working on poverty alleviation in poor villages with their terms of service ranging from one to three years. Meanwhile 188,000 selected staff members have been sent to serve as “first secretary” of Party committees of poor villages by the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee. This is designed to strengthen and improve the Party organizations in poor villages in an attempt to lead the villagers out of poverty. First secretaries and work teams have promoted the implementation of poverty alleviation measures by giving suggestions and concrete assistance to villagers. Local governments have adopted a variety of measures to strengthen management, supervision and evaluation of staff sent to poor villages. Those who fail to make a substantive difference can be recalled in some provinces. Also, some provinces send young civil servants to work in poor villages before promoting them, as they will gain much experience at the forefront of poverty alleviation efforts.
Adopting corresponding measures to help diverse poor families
Developing local industries and relocating impoverished people are a priority. Pilot projects were carried out on relocating poor laborers to find jobs in other regions in Guangdong, Hunan and Hubei provinces, and the model has been gradually promoted nationwide. Increased efforts have been made to alleviate poverty through education, by placing more educational resources in poverty-stricken areas. Poverty alleviation through medical security has also been implemented. The government has mobilized 800,000 primary health care workers to visit poor families and check their physical conditions and more than 1 million patients from poor families have received treatment. Poverty eradication through ecological conservation is another area making progress, with 280,000 registered people living in poverty employed as forest rangers. The alignment of the subsistence allowances system in rural areas with development-oriented poverty alleviation policies has been promoted. The State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, together with related departments, have carried out campaigns for poverty alleviation through series of measures. These include prioritizing education, strengthening medical security, funding, improving transportation infrastructure and water conservancy facilities, developing laborer cooperation, renovating neglected and dangerous buildings, promoting science and technology, as well as the “100 counties and 10,000 villages” campaign launched by centrally administered state-owned enterprises and the “10,000 enterprises assisting 10,000 villages” campaign joined by privately owned enterprises. They have also organized poverty alleviation programs such as entire-village advancement, vocational education training, collateral-free small loans, relocating people from impoverished areas, and developing e-commerce, tourism and photovoltaic industries. Pilot projects for developing e-commerce for poverty relief have been carried out in 428 counties; 22,600 poor villages have begun developing their tourism resources and 30,000 poor villages have been engaged in the photovoltaic industry.
Strengthening fund management
The Central Government has formulated regulations on the management of the special funds for poverty alleviation in order to ensure all the funds to be used on the poor. It is trying to transfer the approval rights of poverty alleviation projects to county-level governments, with 95 percent of such rights transferred in 2016, compared with the 70 percent in 2014. The State Council has issued a policy to encourage poverty-stricken counties for pilot integrated use of fiscal funding for agricultural development, with more than 230 billion yuan having been appropriated for poverty alleviation. The Ministry of Finance and the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development have carried out a joint examination and appraisal of the use of the special fund, with a batch of illegal cases being investigated. The state has strengthened supervision over disciplined execution and auditing in poverty alleviation, and launched a special campaign to prevent and address abuses of power in this field, with the joint efforts of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, and the National Audit Office. Under the concerted supervising efforts of these related parties, the number of illegal cases concerning special funds for poverty alleviation has declined sharply.
Major Achievements
From 2013 to 2016, China’s rural poor population decreased by 55 million, meeting the goal of annually reducing the poor population by more than 10 million for four successive years, which remains a record in the country’s poverty reduction history. From 1986 to 2000, during which the first poverty line was implemented, China reduced its poor population by an annual average of 6.39 million. From 2001 to 2010, during which the second poverty line was implemented, an annual average of 6.73 million poor people rose out of poverty. Since the third poverty line was set in 2011, an annual average of 13.17 million poor people had been lifted out of poverty as of 2016. The annual reduction of the poor population has been increasing after the third poverty line was set, reversing the previous trend of a drop in reduction after a new poverty line was set. Moreover, the annual number of reduced poor population has been more than 10 million, which is unprecedented.
Meanwhile, income growth of rural residents in the poverty-stricken areas was 2 percentage points higher than the national average level during the 2013-16 period. Basic living and production conditions in poor areas have been improved further. Lack of access to potable water, education, medical services and safe housing has also been gradually rectified. Jinggangshan and Lankao counties were among the first to shake off poverty, setting a good example for others.
China’s achievement of large-scale poverty reduction along with rapid economic growth, which is also a contribution to the world’s poverty reduction cause, is attributed to five factors. First, the political advantage of the CPC leadership and the institutional advantage of socialism with Chinese characteristics are the fundamental guarantees for the success of poverty reduction in China. Second, adhering to reform and opening up and maintaining sustainable economic growth are the prerequisites for the success of China’s poverty reduction. Third, the government has played the leading role in reducing poverty by making long-term plans and setting annual targets. Fourth, the strategy of targeted poverty alleviation and elimination has been adopted, with different measures tailor-made for different regions according to local conditions, to ensure the effect of poverty reduction. Fifth, the market’s role in poverty alleviation is of great importance. A motivated society has also become a powerful force in poverty alleviation. In the future, efforts will be made to continue these practices, striving to make poor regions and poor people benefit more from China’s development. At the same time, China will continue strengthening exchange and cooperation with the international community to contribute its efforts to global poverty reduction.
Original, GPIG, 11-09-2017
In carrying out the targeted poverty alleviation strategy, much attention will be paid to the issues as to who are the needy for assistance, who are responsible for the work, what assistance measures should be adopted, and how to implement an exit mechanism for those who have been lifted out of poverty. Priorities will be given to the following aspects in the poverty alleviation campaign.
Creating profiles for impoverished people nationwide
In 2014, the Chinese Government conducted a nationwide survey to collect accurate information on the poor population and created profiles on them. Organized by the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities sent 800,000 staff to villages for field investigation. They registered 128,000 poor villages, 29.48 million poor households and 89.62 million people living in poverty. The registration work gathered information such as the distribution of the country’s impoverished population, causes of poverty and requirements for overcoming poverty and helped establish a unified information system for development-oriented poverty alleviation. From August 2015 to June 2016, a second-round registration program involving nearly 2 million staff members was conducted to update the figure. In this round, 8.07 million people were added to the registration list while 9.29 million were removed for being misidentified. Creating profiles for impoverished people has enriched China’s official data on poverty alleviation, providing important reference for its five-pronged initiative policies on targeted poverty alleviation.
Sending work teams to impoverished villages
Based on the policy arrangement of the central authorities, work teams are sent to all impoverished villages to ensure every poor household is covered. In total, 775,000 government staff members nationwide have been appointed to temporary posts working on poverty alleviation in poor villages with their terms of service ranging from one to three years. Meanwhile 188,000 selected staff members have been sent to serve as “first secretary” of Party committees of poor villages by the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee. This is designed to strengthen and improve the Party organizations in poor villages in an attempt to lead the villagers out of poverty. First secretaries and work teams have promoted the implementation of poverty alleviation measures by giving suggestions and concrete assistance to villagers. Local governments have adopted a variety of measures to strengthen management, supervision and evaluation of staff sent to poor villages. Those who fail to make a substantive difference can be recalled in some provinces. Also, some provinces send young civil servants to work in poor villages before promoting them, as they will gain much experience at the forefront of poverty alleviation efforts.
Adopting corresponding measures to help diverse poor families
Developing local industries and relocating impoverished people are a priority. Pilot projects were carried out on relocating poor laborers to find jobs in other regions in Guangdong, Hunan and Hubei provinces, and the model has been gradually promoted nationwide. Increased efforts have been made to alleviate poverty through education, by placing more educational resources in poverty-stricken areas. Poverty alleviation through medical security has also been implemented. The government has mobilized 800,000 primary health care workers to visit poor families and check their physical conditions and more than 1 million patients from poor families have received treatment. Poverty eradication through ecological conservation is another area making progress, with 280,000 registered people living in poverty employed as forest rangers. The alignment of the subsistence allowances system in rural areas with development-oriented poverty alleviation policies has been promoted. The State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, together with related departments, have carried out campaigns for poverty alleviation through series of measures. These include prioritizing education, strengthening medical security, funding, improving transportation infrastructure and water conservancy facilities, developing laborer cooperation, renovating neglected and dangerous buildings, promoting science and technology, as well as the “100 counties and 10,000 villages” campaign launched by centrally administered state-owned enterprises and the “10,000 enterprises assisting 10,000 villages” campaign joined by privately owned enterprises. They have also organized poverty alleviation programs such as entire-village advancement, vocational education training, collateral-free small loans, relocating people from impoverished areas, and developing e-commerce, tourism and photovoltaic industries. Pilot projects for developing e-commerce for poverty relief have been carried out in 428 counties; 22,600 poor villages have begun developing their tourism resources and 30,000 poor villages have been engaged in the photovoltaic industry.
Strengthening fund management
The Central Government has formulated regulations on the management of the special funds for poverty alleviation in order to ensure all the funds to be used on the poor. It is trying to transfer the approval rights of poverty alleviation projects to county-level governments, with 95 percent of such rights transferred in 2016, compared with the 70 percent in 2014. The State Council has issued a policy to encourage poverty-stricken counties for pilot integrated use of fiscal funding for agricultural development, with more than 230 billion yuan having been appropriated for poverty alleviation. The Ministry of Finance and the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development have carried out a joint examination and appraisal of the use of the special fund, with a batch of illegal cases being investigated. The state has strengthened supervision over disciplined execution and auditing in poverty alleviation, and launched a special campaign to prevent and address abuses of power in this field, with the joint efforts of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, and the National Audit Office. Under the concerted supervising efforts of these related parties, the number of illegal cases concerning special funds for poverty alleviation has declined sharply.
Major Achievements
From 2013 to 2016, China’s rural poor population decreased by 55 million, meeting the goal of annually reducing the poor population by more than 10 million for four successive years, which remains a record in the country’s poverty reduction history. From 1986 to 2000, during which the first poverty line was implemented, China reduced its poor population by an annual average of 6.39 million. From 2001 to 2010, during which the second poverty line was implemented, an annual average of 6.73 million poor people rose out of poverty. Since the third poverty line was set in 2011, an annual average of 13.17 million poor people had been lifted out of poverty as of 2016. The annual reduction of the poor population has been increasing after the third poverty line was set, reversing the previous trend of a drop in reduction after a new poverty line was set. Moreover, the annual number of reduced poor population has been more than 10 million, which is unprecedented.
Meanwhile, income growth of rural residents in the poverty-stricken areas was 2 percentage points higher than the national average level during the 2013-16 period. Basic living and production conditions in poor areas have been improved further. Lack of access to potable water, education, medical services and safe housing has also been gradually rectified. Jinggangshan and Lankao counties were among the first to shake off poverty, setting a good example for others.
China’s achievement of large-scale poverty reduction along with rapid economic growth, which is also a contribution to the world’s poverty reduction cause, is attributed to five factors. First, the political advantage of the CPC leadership and the institutional advantage of socialism with Chinese characteristics are the fundamental guarantees for the success of poverty reduction in China. Second, adhering to reform and opening up and maintaining sustainable economic growth are the prerequisites for the success of China’s poverty reduction. Third, the government has played the leading role in reducing poverty by making long-term plans and setting annual targets. Fourth, the strategy of targeted poverty alleviation and elimination has been adopted, with different measures tailor-made for different regions according to local conditions, to ensure the effect of poverty reduction. Fifth, the market’s role in poverty alleviation is of great importance. A motivated society has also become a powerful force in poverty alleviation. In the future, efforts will be made to continue these practices, striving to make poor regions and poor people benefit more from China’s development. At the same time, China will continue strengthening exchange and cooperation with the international community to contribute its efforts to global poverty reduction.
