Pragmatic Approach Wins Global Plaudits

Yang Hongzhi is a villager who lives in Haiyuan County of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in northwest China. This is one of the poorest regions of the country. Its climate is extremely dry， and soil erosion is extremely serious. Annual precipitation is just below 700 millimeters， far less than what evaporates over the course of a year.

Around 30 years ago， Yang’s family of five survived in a cave house. With the support of the government’s poverty reduction projects， Yang’s family managed to build a courtyard home of their own， equipped with modern appliances. In October 2016， a white paper on China’s Progress in Poverty Reduction and Human Rights was issued. Yang read about the white paper online from the comfort of his new home.

“Without the poverty reduction policies of the government， it would be impossible for us to be living the way we are，” Yang said.

Yang is one of the tens of thousands of ordinary Chinese who have benefited from the government’s poverty reduction policies. This white paper， jointly compiled by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the State Council Leading Group of Poverty Alleviation and Development， listed the major achievements China has made in poverty reduction. Over the past 30 years， more than 700 million Chinese people have risen from poverty. The number of rural poor had fallen to 55.75 million by 2015， with the incidence of poverty dropping to 5.7 percent.

Major Task of the Chinese Government

On Jan. 24， 2017， Chinese President Xi Jinping visited a village in Zhangbei County， Hebei Province， on an inspection tour. The village is only 250 kilometers from Beijing. Xi visited a villager named Xu Xuehai and his poverty stricken family. When Xi learned that Xu had amassed debts of 40，000 yuan （US$6，150） after a heart surgery last year， which at the same time deprived him of his ability to complete heavy farm work， Xi comforted Xu and encouraged him to be optimistic. Meanwhile， Xi directed the local government officials to take timely， effective aid measures.

“For more than 40 years， I have worked in the Chinese government at all levels. Poverty reduction has always been an important part of my work， and the area in which I have invested the most，” Xi said at the Global Poverty Reduction and Development Forum on Oct. 16， 2015.

In the governance philosophy of the Chinese government， poverty reduction is undoubtedly a focus. The Outline for Development-Oriented Poverty Reduction for China’s Rural Areas （2011-2020） put forward this explicit requirement： “By 2020， the state is to be committed to ensuring that the impoverished rural population has stable access to adequate food and clothing， compulsory education and basic medical services and housing； to realizing a growth rate of per-capita disposable income in poor rural areas higher than the national average； to achieving indices of major basic public services close to the national average levels； and to solving problems of regional poverty.”

The government has worked out specific measures to realize these goals. First， the government has begun helping those who have the ability to work and possess productive skills escape poverty through production. This measure alone has lifted 30 million out of poverty.

Second， to help the poverty-stricken population whose land does not provide subsistence escape poverty， the government has earmarked funds to transfer them to more friendly locations. This measure has helped 10 million rise from poverty.

Third， the government provides vocational training for those who have the ability to work， especially young people， to improve their professional skills for employment in the secondary and tertiary industries. This measure has helped 10 million shake off poverty.

Fourth， the government works to bring all impoverished people who are ineligible for the above-mentioned measures under the coverage of the rural subsistence allowance system and eradicate poverty through the guarantee of social security. This measure has helped 20 million people out of poverty.

Concentrating on Large Undertakings

How has China achieved so much in poverty reduction？ That has a lot to do with the strong social mobilization of the Chinese government. Since the 1980s， the Chinese government has supported the economic development in poverty-stricken areas by means of allocating poverty-reduction resources to state-designated poor counties. In 1996， the central government made a decision to organize 15 economically developed provinces and municipalities in the east to support development in 11 corresponding poverty-stricken provinces， autonomous regions and cities in western regions. Cooperation partners were brought together in pairs： Beijing with Inner Mongolia， Tianjin with Gansu， Shanghai with Yunnan etc.

In 2015， China identified its poverty reduction goals： “In the next five years， all the remaining 70 million-plus rural people living in poverty by existing Chinese standards will be lifted out of poverty.”

The sheer number of people targeted in this plan is equivalent to the current population of many countries. According to the goals， more than 10 million people are expected to be lifted out of poverty each year.

To this end， China has further increased its investment in poverty reduction. In 2016， central and provincial coffers provided more than 100 billion yuan （US$15 billion） for poverty reduction. Non-governmental organizations have also facilitated poverty reduction. More than 21，992 private enterprises have taken responsibility for helping lift their partner areas out of poverty.

China has lifted 700 million people out of poverty， contributing to over 70 percent of global poverty reduction in the past 30 years. China has provided 400 billion yuan （US$61.5 billion） in assistance to other countries and international organizations. More than 600，000 Chinese have participated in international poverty reduction assistance. China has provided medical assistance to 69 countries and offered help to 120 developing countries in making progress toward the UN’s Millennium Development Goals. The pace and scale of this endeavor is unprecedented.

China’s achievements in poverty reduction have won the world’s affirmation. The New York Times commented that the sharp decline in extreme poverty owes largely to China’s economic progress. The Huffington Post pointed out that the world’s achievement in poverty reduction “owes the most to China. China has achieved such remarkable results thanks to its economic development， which would not have been possible without the efforts the government has made in reform”.