The World Shares Chinese Experience of Poverty Alleviation

By Wang RenguiOutlook Weekly

The World Shares Chinese Experience of Poverty Alleviation

By Wang Rengui
Outlook Weekly

As the 2ndChina Poverty Alleviation Day and the 23rdInternational Day for the Eradication of Poverty is approaching， Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a keynote speech at the 2015 Global Poverty Reduction and Development Forum in Beijing on October 16thand elaborated Chinese Government's resolute measures on comprehensively promoting poverty alleviation campaign in the process of building a moderately prosperous society in an all suspects， showing China's determination to implement the Post-2015 Development Agenda.

President Xi said that moderately prosperous society in all respects is the moderate prosperity for all Chinese people，with no one left behind. In 5 years to come，China will get rid of the whole 70 million poor populations under the existing poverty line. In order to win the tough battle against poverty，China would make development-oriented poverty alleviation a main subject in the economic and social development plan.

In a local investigation earlier， President Xi requests Party committee and government at all levels to grasp the time node， vigorously fill in the short board， scientifically plan development-oriented poverty alleviation work during the 13thFive-Year Plan period and ensure that poverty population get rid of poverty by 2020 as scheduled.

Since the 18thNational Congress of CPC，the CPC Central Committee and State Council have positioned poverty alleviation at a more prominent place and pushed forward in wide-ranging and multi-level ways with great efforts. General Secretary Xi Jinping made a series of important instructions. Chinese Government put forward the objective to rid all Chinese rural poor population of poverty by 2020.

When President Xi Jingping just took office before the New Year's Day of 2013， he braved the cold weather colder than -10℃ ，investigated development-oriented poverty alleviation work， and visited and gave solicitude to people in financial difficulties in Fuping County， Hebei Province. He stressed that the CPC and Government should attach special caring and concerns to people in financial difficulties， do everything possible to help them solve problems， always keep people's safety and well-being in mind， and deliver warmth from the CPC and Government to them all.

Since then， a hard battle over development-oriented poverty alleviation has started in China's land. The CPC Central Committee， with Xi Jinping as the General Secretary， has stood on a strategic height of realizing the Chinese Dream， grasped the overall situation， devised various strategies，carried out a new strategic plan for poverty alleviation work and continued to push it forward.

Since the end of 2013， government at all levels in China has targeted standard poverty alleviation implementation as the core，launched poverty identification work in all respects and created profile card for 89 million poor people， which laid the foundation for helping the poverty population and precisely offering vigorous aid. Local authorities concerned have send working teams and first secretaries to 128，000 poor villages， which provide means and platforms of crucial poverty eradication to villages and households. Reform the impoverished counties' evaluation mechanism， build their restraint mechanism，study their exit mechanism， guide their officials to establish the right view of achievements that focus on people's livelihood and mainlyconcentrate efforts on development-oriented poverty alleviation， improve financial funds management system， sink project approval and management and supervision power down to the county level， which ensures money to be spent where it is most needed； expand channels and formula of financial poverty alleviation，encourage financial innovation to ensure that people in impoverished areas experience the new modern finance services with convenience，low cost and excellent service.

Through a series of efforts，development-oriented poverty alleviation has achieved new tangible results. In 2013， poor population reduced by 16.5 million and in 2014，12.32 million， completing the yearly goal of reducing more than 10 million poor population in two consecutive years. In the first half of 2015， per capita net income growth rate of rural residents in impoverished areas continued to exceed that of national rural average. In spite of pressures such as economic downturn and employment difficulties， the yearly target to reduce another 10 million poor population is expected to achieve.

Looking back， China has carried out an unprecedented poverty reduction practice throughout history of human society. Since the reform and opening， China has relieved more than 600 million residents of poverty rapidly. Thus， China becomes the world's first developing country to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals of halving population in poverty， and also promotes realization of UN Millennium Goals.

On November 29th， 2011， the Central Conference on Poverty Alleviation was held， at which poverty standard was raised up to 2300 CNY and poverty alleviation targeted population rose to 128 million corresponding to the new standard. Then， China's Rural Development-oriented poverty alleviation Program （2011-2020） is released， meaning China's third massive policy adjustment of poverty alleviation following the development-oriented poverty alleviation policy set in 1986 for the first time and 8thSeven-Year Priority Poverty Alleviation Program implemented in 1994. It clearly stipulates that the goal for the poverty alleviation targeted people not to worry about food and clothing， and their guaranteed compulsory education， basic medical care and housing are stably achieved by 2020. The new strategy of poverty alleviation gives priority plan in 14 special contiguous destitute areas.

Then， Mr. Fan Xiaojian， director of the Poverty Alleviation Office of State Council said that identifying contiguous destitute areas as main battlefields was not only an inheritance of past thinking but also an innovation. After years of development-oriented poverty alleviation， China has drawn successful experience of integrating force， developing contiguous areas， concentrating in campaigns and comprehensively governing， delineating contiguous poor areas and launching campaigns in these areas， which are quite necessary in implementing poverty alleviation work.

Faced the time node of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects by 2020， General Secretary Xi Jinping stresses at the Central Economic Work Conference in the end of 2014 that poverty alleviation of poor villagers is the key to indentify whether or not the moderate prosperity is achieved， and people in poverty harm the nation just like cold foot could damage one's heart. He further stresses that China is able to complete its major economic targets by 2020， but is not easy to comprehensively complete the task of poverty eradication. Poverty alleviation is crucial to the overall national situation to which the whole CPC must pay great attention. If this work is not done well， not only poor people are not satisfied， people in general would also question the authenticity of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects.

In June 2015， at the symposium of some local CPC committee leaders in Guizhou Province Xi stresses again that development-oriented poverty alleviation work still faces arduous and onerous mission and has entered the crucial stage of sprint， gnawed hard bones and made final attempt on the alleviation. The situation is pressing and does not wait. Party committees and governments at all levels must enhance the sense of urgency and initiative， straighten out thinking and strengthen the responsibility further more inpoverty alleviation campaigns， and adopt measures with greater intensity， more targeted，more immediate and more sustainable effect，especially make greater efforts to targeted poverty alleviation and relief.

Mr. Liu Yongfu， Deputy Head and Office Director of the Leading Group of Development-oriented poverty alleviation of the State Council， said that whether or not the poverty alleviation is successful is related to whether the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects is achieved and is also related to the authenticity of this goal and people's trust in CPC and Government. In other words， if there are still large areas in poverty， people's basic production and living difficulties such as water， electricity， roads，telecommunications， housing are not well resolved and the basic goals in Development-oriented poverty alleviation Program （2011-2012） not realized， this moderately prosperous society being built is not integral.

According to statistics from competent department， China still has 70.17 million poor populations at the moment. This means we need to solve the problem of more than 70 million poor population in less than 6 years，11.7 million each year and 1 million each month， if dividing the number. Accomplishing such formidable task will be quite difficult without any special major initiative. To this end，the policy orients that：

Firstly， strengthen the leadership accountability system for development-oriented poverty alleviation work in steadfast manner. Implement the management system that the Central Government coordinates overall work，provincial governments shoulder general responsibility and cities prefectures and counties carry out the policies； working mechanism that focuses on developing contiguous areas， taking relief work to villages and helping individual households get rid of poverty； and leadership accountability system for development-oriented poverty alleviation that Party and government chiefs at all levels shoulder comprehensive responsibility. Governments' performances should be more vigorous and effective.

Secondly， implement targeted poverty alleviation conscientiously. Only alleviation objects， program arrangements， fund usage，measures for each household are all targeted just like prescribing the right medicine for the symptom， and providing targeted therapy， can the hard bones of poverty alleviation be gnawed.

Thirdly， generate powerful resultant for poverty alleviation. Adhere to a big “trinity”pattern of poverty alleviation with multiple initiatives and forces organically combining and supporting each other as in special poverty alleviation， industrial alleviation， and social alleviation. Improve collaboration between Eastern and Western China as well as targeted poverty alleviation mechanism by CPC and Government offices， and inspire enthusiasm of the whole society to be interested in care for and support poor areas through extensive mobilization.

Fourthly， organically combine development-oriented poverty alleviation with construction of grass-root organizations. Encourage and select outstanding young cadres，ex-servicemen， college graduates who have correct values， positive work style， strong ability and willingness to serve the people to work in poor villages， bring full play the subject initiative of grass-root cadres and ordinary people in poor areas， and go all out to make the best use of national policies for poor areas and poor households.