Chinacutthenumberofthepoorbymorethan700millioninthepast40years.Itscontributionratetoglobalpovertyreductionexceeded70percent.
Abird鈥檚-eyeviewofShibadongVillageintheXiangxiTujiaandMiaoAutonomousPrefecture,HunanProvince.Inearlyspring,whenwildcherrytreesblossominthenearbymountains,thevillagewelcomesflocksoftourists.Ruraltourismhasbecomeapillarindustrythatliftsvillagersoutofpoverty.Xinhua
Sincethelate1970s,Chinahasmadegreatprogressinlarge-scalepovertyreductionintheprocessofitsreformandopeningup,makingconsiderablecontributiontotherealizationoftheUNMillenniumDevelopmentGoals(MDGs).However,thenationisstillfacingproblemssuchasincomeinequality,comparativelylowerpovertyline,hugepoorpopulation,andlackoftargetedpovertyalleviationmeasures.Inthiscontext,thestrategyof鈥渢argetedpovertyrelief鈥漬eedstobetakenfurtherforhasteninglarge-scalepovertyreduction.ProgressinPovertyAlleviationOvernearlyfourdecadessinceitbeganthereformandopeninguppolicy,Chinahasgreatlyreducedpovertywhilemaintainingrapideconomicgrowth.AccordingtotheWorldBank鈥檚povertylineofUS$1aday,thecountrycutthenumberofthepoorbymorethan700millioninthepast40years.In2000,theUNMillenniumSummitpassedtheMDGs,settingagoaltohalvethenumberofthepoorfromthe1990figure.Chinawasthefirstcountrytoreachthegoal.By2002,ithadreducedthepercentageofthepoorinruralareasto30percent,whichwas60percentin1990.Duringtheperiod,China鈥檚contributionratetoglobalpovertyreductionexceeded70percent.Chinahasmadefurthereffortstoreducepovertysincethe18thNationalCongressoftheCommunistPartyofChinain2012.Bytheendof2017,thepopulationofthepoorinthecountry鈥檚ruralareashaddecreasedto30.26millionfrom98.99millionattheendof2012,andthepovertyheadcountratiohaddroppedfrom10.2percentto3.1percent.Rapideconomicgrowthoverdecadeshassubstantiallyincreasedincomesandconsumption,beingdecisiveinlarge-scalepovertyreduction.Thislarge-scalepovertyreductionisattributedtoacombinationofmanyfactors.Firstly,growthinagricultureisparticularlyimportantforpovertyalleviation.AccordingtoaresearchreportreleasedbytheWorldBank,growthinChina鈥檚agriculturalsectorisfourtimesaseffectiveinreducingpovertyasgrowthinthesecondaryandtertiaryindustries.Secondly,targetedpovertyalleviationefforthashelpednarrowthegapbetweendifferentregionsandaccelerateeconomicandsocialdevelopmentofpoverty-strickenareas.Thirdly,Chinabegantoestablishasocialsecuritysystemforruralareasin2007.Measuressuchasguaranteedminimumincome,thenew-typeruralcooperativemedicalcaresystemandtheruralpensioninsurancesystemhaveensuredprovisionofbasiclivingandpublicservices.Fourthly,inclusiveruralpolicieshavebenefitedvastsectionsoftheimpoverishedinruralareas.In2003,thecountrylaunchedthe鈥済rainforgreen鈥漜ampaigninpoverty-strickenareas,andfarmerswhoreturnedtheirfarmlandtoforestsandgrasslandswerepaidwithallowances.In2006,agriculturaltaxwasabolished,andapolicytoprovidegeneralsubsidiesforagriculturaldevelopmentwasimplemented.From2008,nine-yearfreecompulsoryeducationbegantobeavailablenationwideforallchildren.Andfinally,thebasiclandsystemandlandoperationpatternensurethatthepoorbenefitfromagriculturalgrowth.Thehouseholdcontractresponsibilitysystemwasadoptedasthebasiclandsysteminruralareas,accordingtowhichrurallandsarecollectivelyowned,butfarmersenjoylong-termuseandmanagementrightsofthelandcontracted.Intheearly1980s,farmlandsweredistributedtofarmersinabasicallyequalmanner,sothatimpoverishedhouseholdscouldalsobenefitfromtheirfarmlandandagriculturaldevelopment.ChallengesinPovertyReductionDespitegreatprogressineconomicdevelopmentandpovertyreduction,itisundeniablethattheincomegapbetweentherichandthepoorcontinuestoexpand.China鈥檚Ginicoefficientgrewfrom0.288in1981to0.4in2017.Asreliefmeasuresacceleratedeconomicgrowthofpoverty-strickenregions,incomeinequalityinthoseregionscontinuedtoincrease.DuringtheimplementationoftheOutlineforDevelopment-orientedPovertyReductionforChina鈥檚RuralAreas(2001-2010),theratiooftheaverageincomeofthepooresthouseholdstothatoftherichesthouseholdsinkeycountiesforpovertyalleviationdroppedfrom21.59percentin2002to17.38percentin2010.Themoreincomearuralhouseholdearns,thefasteritsnetincomegrows.From2002to2010,theper-headnetincomeoffarmerswiththelowestincomesincreasedatanannualrateof11.1percent,whilethatoffarmerswiththehighestincomesincreasedatanannualrateof14.1percent,resultinginafurtherexpansionoftheincomegap.From2002to2009,theannualincomegrowthratesforpoorruralhouseholdsandaverageruralhouseholdsinkeycountiesforpovertyalleviationwere2.75percentand11.76percent,respectively鈥攖heformeris9percentlowerthanthelatter,whilethenationalaveragestayedat11.04percent.Theratiooftheincomeofpoorhouseholdstothatoftheaveragehouseholdsnationwidecontinuedtofall鈥攆romonethirdin2002toonefifthin2009.Theincreaseinincomeinequalityisattributedtovariousreasons.First,themainstayofChina鈥檚economicstructurehasshiftedfromagriculturethatislabor-intensivetomanufacturingandserviceindustries,resultinginfurtherexpansionoftheincomegap.Duetothefactthatthecountryadoptsalandsystemfeaturingequaldistribution,theincomedistributioninitsagriculturalsectoriscomparativelyequal.However,incomeinequalitygrowsinthesecondaryandtertiaryindustriesthatarecapital-andtechnologyintensive.Second,thepopulationandlabormigrationbetweenruralareasandurbanareasalsocausesincomeinequality.Duetotheircomparativelylowereducationallevelandcomprehensivecapacityandtheshortageofcapitalandinformation,migrantworkersfrompovertystrickenruralareasarelesslikelytofindjobsincitiesthanthosefromcomparativelyricherruralareas.Thisfurtherwidenstheincomegap.Third,althoughdevelopment-orientedreliefefforthasgreatlyimprovedinfrastructure,production,andlivingconditionsinpoverty-strickenareas,itremainshardforpoorhouseholdstosubstantiallyincreasetheirincomesbyutilizingimprovedinfrastructureasrichhouseholdsdid.Finally,itisdifficultforthepoortoenjoyeffectivefinancialservices,whichimpedesariseintheirincomes.Againstthebackdropofgrowingincomeinequality,ithasbecomehardertoreducethenumberofthepoorthrougheconomicdevelopmentandregionalpovertyalleviation.Therefore,itisincreasinglyimportanttodirectlyhelpthepoorthroughmoretargetedreliefpolicies.
YuMaoyun,directoroftheCenterforRareMedicinalPlantsCultivationandIndustrializationatWestAnhuiUniversityinAnhuiProvince,worksinasterilelaboratory.Localvillagersinmountainousareasintheprovince鈥檚JinzhaiCountyandJin鈥檃nDistricthaveshakenoffpovertyandbecomewealthythroughplantingmedicinalherbssuchasDendrobiumhuoshanenseandBletillastriata.Xinhua
TargetedPovertyAlleviationStrategyInNovember2013,ChinesePresidentXiJinpingfirstputforwardthestrategyof鈥渢argetedpovertyalleviation鈥漝uringhisvisittoXiangxiTujiaandMiaoAutonomousPrefectureinHunanProvince.Sofar,thestrategyhasremainedasignificantpartofChina鈥檚fightagainstpoverty.Thestrategyaimstoenhancetherelevanceandefficacyofreliefeffort,soastooffsetthedropintheeffectofeconomicgrowthonpovertyreduction.Thekeycontentoftargetedpovertyalleviationiseliminationofallthefactorsandobstaclesthatcausepovertythroughtargetedassistanceforthepoorandenablingtheirselfdevelopmenttowardsthegoalofsustainablepovertyreduction.Targetedpovertyalleviationincludespreciseidentification,assistance,management,andassessment.AccordingtoasurveyconductedbytheNationalBureauofStatisticsofChina,thecountryhad70.17millionbelowthepovertylineattheendof2014.(Itwasestimatedthatthefigurewouldbereducedto60millioninearly2016).Thegovernmenthastakenaseriesofmeasurestofurtherinnovateitspovertyreliefmechanism,soastofacilitatetheimplementationofitstargetedpovertyalleviationstrategyandensureeradicationofpovertyby2020.Intermsofpreciseidentification,Chinahasidentified29.48millionpoorhouseholdswithatotalpopulationof89.62millionsince2013.(Currently,thesecondroundofpooridentificationisunderway,andalthoughthefindingsareyettoberevealed,itisbelievedthattheidentifiedpoorwouldbelessinnumbers).Moreover,thecountryhasregisteredallpoorhouseholdsandpopulationanddetailsaboutthefamilies,aswellastheiravailableresources,incomesources,andreasonsofpoverty,inthenationalpovertyalleviationinformationsystem.Thegovernmenthastakenaseriesofmeasurestopushforwardtargetedpovertyalleviation.First,supportingabatchofpoorhouseholdsthroughindustrialdevelopmentandemploymentandsolvingtheirdifficultiesinrelationtotechnology,capital,andmarketing.Second,relocating10millionofthepoorinremoteareaswithharshnaturalconditionstocomparativelymorehospitablevillagesorsmalltownswithaviewtoimprovingtheenvironmentandconditionsfortheirdevelopment.Third,helpingabatchofpoorhouseholdsreducepovertythroughecologicalcompensationpoliciessuchassubsidiesforthosewhoreturnedtheirfarmlandtoforests.Fourth,helpingabatchofpoorhouseholdsreducepovertythroughstrengtheningeducation.Themeasuresincludedevelopingpreschooleducationinpovertystrickenareas,providingfreehighschooloroccupationalschooleducationandlivingallowancesforstudentsfromimpoverishedfamilies.Thiswillnotonlyreducetheeducationexpenditureofpoorhouseholds,butalsohelpendinter-generationalpoverty.Finally,helpingabatchofpoorhouseholdsthroughsocialsecuritymeasuressuchasexpandingthecoverageofminimumlivingallowances,launchingruralcooperativemedicalcaresystem,andprovidingsevere-diseasemedicalinsuranceandassistance,andpensioninsurance.By2020,China鈥檚minimumlivingsecuritysystemwillliftallitscitizensabovethepovertyline.Tostrengthencommunitylevelpovertyalleviationcapacity,governmentsatvariouslevelshavedispatchedofficialstoactasfirstsecretariesandpovertyreliefteamleadersin128,000poverty-strickenvillages.Academicinstitutions,nongovernmentalorganizations(NGOs),andordinarycitizensarealsoencouragedtoparticipateinpovertyreliefeffortsbyvariousmeans,suchasestablishingindependentthird-partypovertyreductionappraisalmechanism.ChineseExperienceinPovertyReliefChina鈥檚successinlarge-scalepovertyreductionoverthepastfourdecades,aswellasitsongoingeffortintargetedpovertyalleviation,isusefulexperiencefordevelopingcountries.China鈥檚successfulexperiencecanbesummarizedasfollows:First,sustainedeconomicgrowthhasbeencombinedwithdevelopment-centeredreliefeffort.Foranycountry,economicgrowthisanecessaryprerequisiteforlargescalepovertyreduction.Againstabackdropofincreasingincomeinequality,targetedpovertyreliefisindispensabletoendpoverty.Second,thecountryhasrealizedanorganicintegrationofpovertyalleviationandsocialsecurity.Essentially,inordertoachievesustainablepovertyreduction,acountryneedstoenhancetheselfdevelopmentabilityofpovertystrickenareasandpopulationthroughdevelopment-orientedreliefeffort.Moreover,providingnecessarysocialsecuritypolicieswillnotonlyguaranteethepoor鈥檚basiclivelihood,butalsolaythefoundationfordevelopment-orientedpovertyalleviation.Ifthepoorlackbasiclivingguarantee,itisimpossibletoachievesustainablepovertyreduction.Third,government-ledreliefeffortshouldbemadealongsidesocialmobilization.Withprimaryliabilityforpovertyalleviation,governmentsatvariouslevelsareresponsibleforformulatingreliefstrategies,providingandmobilizingrelevantresources,anddraftingandimplementingrelevantplansandpolicies.Povertyalleviationisacomprehensive,systemicprojectthatinvolvesvarioussectorsandrequiresspecializedknowledgeandexpertise.Therefore,broadparticipationofmarketentities,NGOsandcitizensisvitaltoenhancingtheeffectivenessofpovertyreliefefforts.Finally,rationalinstitutionalarrangementsarehelpfulforpovertyreduction.China鈥檚fairlanddistributionsystemhasconsiderablymagnifiedagriculture鈥檚roleinpovertyreduction.Moreover,thepopularizationoffreecompulsoryeducationandcooperativemedicalcarehelpsthepoorincreasetheirhumancapitalandenhancetheircapacityfordevelopment.TheauthorisaprofessorattheSchoolofAgriculturalEconomicsandRuralDevelopmentunderRenminUniversityofChina,anddirectoroftheuniversity鈥檚Anti-PovertyResearchCenter.Heisdedicatedtoresearchonruralpoverty.