International Organizations’Messages on China’s Poverty Reduction

Great Contribution to the World

Antonio Guterres，UN Secretary-General

The most important contribution that China is making to the eradication of poverty is Chinese achievements. The fact that China has been able to move hundreds of millions of people out of poverty and that China now has a very clear target to fully eradicate extreme poverty in China in 2020 is the most important contribution. But there is another one. And that one comes from the increasing development cooperation policies of China with countries in the developing world， in Africa namely， in order to support other countries in their development to reduce poverty around the world. So these two contributions together represent a very important commitment of China and very important contribution of China to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda， the sustainable development agenda， and its goals.

I do believe that China will be able to achieve its goal of eliminating extreme poverty by 2020， because there is a very strong commitment of the president， the government， and the Chinese society. But of course its not only extreme poverty that matters. Im sure that after 2020， China will go on with a systematic program in order to reduce less extreme poverty that might still exist in the country and to create a society in which not only is development a priority， but the fight against inequality and the capacity to bring to all people the benefits of the modern times will be achieved.

The investment of China in other countries has given those countries the possibility to fully integrate them in their own development processes. Its very important to support African countries to fully benefit from Chinese cooperation and to fully integrate it into their own development programs. Chinas cooperation can be an important contribution to reduce poverty around the world and achieve other development goals， and at the same time， to create synergies that will allow， through international cooperation， the global economy to be more prosperous， and be able to bring more benefits to the global population.

（Source： China.org.cn）

Unprecedented Progress

Bert Hofman， Country Director for China， Korea， and Mongolia of the World Bank

In the past 40 years， China has made tremendous progress in poverty reduction. Chinas historic rapid growth resulted in a poverty decline unprecedented in its speed and scale. Rapid growth was made possible by a wide range of reforms， which transformed a state-dominated， planned， rural， and closed economy to a more market-based， urbanized， and open economy. As a result， real per capita income increased by 16 times between 1978 and 2014， and real output per worker increased by a factor of 12. This enabled Chinas extreme poverty rate， based on the international purchasing power parity （PPP） US $1.90 per day poverty line， to fall from 88.3 percent in 1981 to 1.9 percent in 2013. This implies that Chinas success enabled more than 850 million people to escape poverty.

China is on its way to eliminating extreme poverty， but the population vulnerable to poverty will remain relatively large. China is expected to continue to make strong progress toward eliminating extreme poverty， despite the slowdown of economic growth. The World Bank projected extreme poverty in China， based on the international PPP US $1.90 per day poverty line， to decline to 0.5 percent by 2018. The population vulnerable to poverty， as defined by the higher international poverty line of PPP US $3.10 per day， will remain relatively large. The higher poverty line characterizes those in moderate poverty and vulnerable to falling below the poverty line. According to this higher poverty line， China was projected to have a poverty rate of 3.9 percent or 54.6 million people below this higher poverty line by 2018. Nevertheless， in all likelihood， China will have eliminated extreme poverty by 2020 or soon after.

Of course， Chinas rapid growth， structural transformation， and poverty reduction measures have been strong drivers of this poverty reduction. But in addition， Chinas government， together with partners such as the World Bank， has developed an array of specific programs to tackle poverty. China effectively used geographical targeting of its poverty reduction programs to maximize the impact on the poor. The programs included investment in agriculture to raise agricultural productivity， in infrastructure to link poor people with thriving urban markets， in education and health to equip the poor to find higher paying jobs or start a company， and many more. Increasingly， China also reinforced its social safety net by expanding dibao （basic living allowances）， and the coverage of health insurance and pensions systems， for which the government covered for the poor.

The story of Chinas successful battle against poverty is also important for policy makers in other countries： they can learn from Chinas experience and adjust the lessons to their own specific conditions and own specific nature of their poverty challenge. With Chinas growing success， learning from China has undoubtedly taken on more importance in recent years， and Chinas government as well as the World Bank pay a lot of attention to this.

（Source： Foreign Languages Press）