1. Introduction
Over the past 70-plus years, China has transformed from a backward country into the world’s second largest economy. That country has become the powerhouse of world economy and lifted more than 700 million rural people out of poverty. These achievements are hard-earned, thanks to the strong, efficient leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC). The central government has been committed to poverty reduction through multi-dimensional and multi-sectoral programs. These projects are highly effective in the fight against poverty.
China has made marked progress over the past several decades when it comes to poverty alleviation. In November 2011, the Information Office of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China issued a white paper entitled New Progress in Development-oriented Poverty Reduction Program for Rural China. The State Council Information Office of the People’s Republic of China (2011) highlighted development-oriented poverty reduction policies and their achievements. Poverty reduction was achieved by targeted programs, social involvement, and international cooperation. A decade later, the same office released another white paper titled Poverty Alleviation: China’s Experience and Contribution. The State Council Information Office of the People’s Republic of China (2021) declared a final victory in battling extreme poverty, and detailed targeted poverty alleviation strategy and practices. China’s approach has reduced poverty substantially, offering insights for the rest of the world. March 31, 2022 saw the release of a report titled Four Decades of Poverty Reduction in China Drivers, Insights for the World, and the Way Ahead, a joint research by China’s Ministry of Finance, the Development Research Center (DRC) of the State Council, and the World Bank. This study (World Bank et al., 2022) identifies three defining features of China’s poverty reduction efforts—targeted support, effective governance, and broad-based economic transformation.
There exist numerous studies on China’s poverty reduction over the past four decades. Some studies analyze how policy reforms produced economic growth, productivity improvement, and poverty reduction (Chandrasekhar & Ghosh, 2006; Yao, 2000). Other scholars focus on the relationship between growth pattern and poverty alleviation (Kakwani & Luo, 2021; Lin, 2003; Goh, 2009; Huang et al., 2008; Wang et al., 2014). Some researches assess the effectiveness of poverty reduction programs and learn lessons from China’s experience (Khan, 2005; Rusliyadi & Wang, 2018; Tang, 2008; Wang, 2004; Wu et al., 2004; Zhang & Wan, 2006; Zhou et al., 2018; Yue et al., 2005; Guiyang Poverty Alleviation Office, 2021). Gu and Nie (2021) examine the impacts empowered women have in poverty reduction through a multi-component program. Women, empowered by intervention measures like training, cooperatives, and credit, help reduce poverty by raising income and living standard of their families. These researches suggest that inclusive growth contributes to poverty relief effort while rising inequality has an adverse impact on poverty reduction. China’s poverty alleviation programs have been highly effective in combating poverty. Insights have been drawn and lessons have been learned from China’s experience, offering new anti-poverty solutions. Though acknowledging the enormous achievements, those studies give scant attention to the evolution of anti-poverty ideas, and strong leadership and good governance in China’s poverty alleviation effort.
This paper aims to fill the gap by focusing exclusively on the unique approach to poverty reduction in China for 2012-2021 at macro-level and micro-level. This timespan saw the most intensive anti-poverty efforts at all levels of government. On a visit to Shibadong village, Hunan province, in November 2013, president Xi Jinping first put forth the concept of targeted poverty reduction. He said that poverty alleviation should feature differentiated guidance and take a seeking-truth-from-facts work style by tailoring policies to local conditions. Sloganeering and empty rhetoric must be avoided. Unreachable goals should not be set (Guangming Daily, 2019). An unprecedented poverty alleviation campaign has since been launched by the central government and implemented by five levels of local government—province, municipality, county, township, and village. This nationwide war on poverty has been won through concerted, coordinated, and innovative strategies under the leadership of CPC Central Committee with general secretary Xi Jinping as the core leader.
China’s uniquely effective approach to poverty reduction represents anti-poverty policy innovations with Chinese characteristics that suit national conditions. That country’s poverty reduction experience demonstrates the superiority of China’s system—CPC’s leadership, financial investment, mobilization of social forces, and targeted poverty alleviation. This strategy has lifted poor regions out of poverty through education, relocation, eco-compensation, and social security, among others. As actions are guided by ideas or values, China’s war on poverty is inspired by the anti-poverty theory of the CPC leadership. Poverty reduction is promoted as a national strategy. Strong leadership at all levels of government enables concerted and continuous efforts to poverty alleviation. A wide variety of mechanisms are established to ensure good governance in the fight against poverty. These measures lead to the success of targeted poverty reduction.
2. Evolution of the CPC Anti-Poverty Ideas
The CPC anti-poverty ideas have emerged and developed from the battle against poverty since the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. They have to suit the actual conditions in the course of revolution, construction, and reform and opening-up. Anti-poverty concepts have given rise to targeted strategies in reducing poverty. Generations of top CPC leadership have enriched anti-poverty ideas in the war on poverty.
The first generation of CPC central leadership, with Chairman Mao as the great helmsman, created good political conditions for poverty alleviation and tackled poverty facing the new country. The century-long humiliation of foreign aggression plunged China into a semi-colonial, semi-feudal society, and hundreds of millions of the Chinese people were reduced into poverty or even extreme poverty. The founding of the PRC in 1949 ended 100 years of humiliation. Meanwhile, feudalism, imperialism, and bureaucrat-capitalism were overthrown. The newly-founded republic was a backward country. The CPC united and led the Chinese people to propel socialist transformation in agriculture, craft sectors, and capitalist industry and commerce. As only socialism can save China, only socialism can provide solutions to poverty reduction. The establishment of the socialist system offered institutional basis for getting to the root causes of poverty. Socialist development was launched in all industries and sectors, producing an independent and budding economic system and industrial system. Under the leadership of the CPC, more efforts were committed to the development of collective economy, farmland reform, and rural education. The collective economy was the foundation of national system. Relief was given to those in extreme poverty. Rural people who could not work and had no supportive family were taken good care of by agricultural cooperatives. These efforts led to rising living standard and education level.
The second generation of CPC leadership under Deng Xiaoping faced up to the big challenge of widespread rural poverty by launching epochal reform and opening-up. This visionary policy set China on the road to socialist modernization. That country has made big strides on the way of becoming rich and strong, boosting economic growth, improving the overall strength, and raising the living standards of the Chinese people. This rapid socioeconomic development contributed much to poverty reduction by sharply decreasing the impoverished population. Deng (1987/1993) rightly noted that “poverty is not socialism. Socialism means eradicating poverty. And we must keep abreast of the times, and that is the purpose of our reform.” Socialism is expected to liberate and propel productive forces, making a strong, prosperous China. The 13th CPC National Congress in 1987 specified a three-step plan for economic development and different development strategies for coastal areas and the rest of China. Rural areas saw major reforms in agriculture, featuring cooperatives and household contract responsibility system. Productive forces were unleashed and farmers’ enthusiasm was generated, bringing a sharp increase in agricultural output. Meanwhile, the government facilitated township enterprises in a bid to raise overall incomes in rural China. The central government set up poverty alleviation bodies and identified impoverished areas for anti-poverty efforts. Development-driven poverty reduction turned out to be a great success, as evidenced by rapid economic growth and farmers’ rising income.
The early 1990s witnessed new landscape in rural poverty. Particular groups, regions, and populations suffered disproportionately. Addressing this challenge, the third generation of CPC leadership headed by Jiang Zemin formulated a three-step development strategic plan to build a moderately prosperous country. Nationwide war on poverty was waged continuously. In 1994, the State Council initiated the Priority Poverty Alleviation Program. This action plan made specific targets and measures to meet the basic needs of 80 million people in poverty-stricken areas for 1994-2000. Several meetings were held at the national level to ensure the success of this special anti-poverty program. The central government hosted National Conferences on Development-driven Poverty Alleviation in 1996 and 1999, deeply committed to providing enough food and clothing for the impoverished population by the end of 2000. Poverty reduction was primarily achieved through development rather than government relief. In 2001, another conference saw the State Council issue the Outline of Development-driven Poverty Alleviation in Rural Areas, making further commitments to poverty reduction with additional measures for 2001-2010. By the end of 2000, the impoverished population had been reduced to 32.09 million in rural China.
In the 21st century, top CPC leaders embraced new ideas for development. The Scientific Development Concept is attributed to Hu Jintao, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee from 2002 to 2012. It is people-oriented, integrating people’s wellbeing, scientific socialism, and sustainable development with the goal of building a harmonious socialist society. That initiative aimed to achieve moderate prosperity in all respects and advance the development of a new socialist countryside. It enacted a slew of anti-poverty measures and policies in line with new conditions across China. Poverty reduction was primarily focused on the central and western regions, where 150,000 poverty-stricken villages were chosen from 592 priority counties. Those villagers were encouraged to participate fully, actively, and consciously in poverty reduction efforts. The government took a wide range of measures, business development, rural labor transfer, and relocation and resettlement. It also sought to narrow the interregional gap in socioeconomic development with particular plans—the rise of Central China, revitalization of northeast, and western development strategy. The agricultural tax was abolished nationwide in January 1, 2006. And the new rural cooperative medical care system was established, lifting the economic weight from farmers. The National Health Commission reported that some 833 million rural people joined the system in 2009, a figure that amounted to 94% of the rural population in total. The National Conference on Development-driven Poverty Reduction was held in 2011, with the release of Outline of Development-driven Poverty Alleviation in Rural Areas by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council. This guideline addressed challenges facing the fight against poverty in a new phase. Anti-poverty war must be won to build a moderately prosperous society by 2020. These fruitful measures reduced the poor population to 122 million.
After the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, China entered a new era for building a moderately prosperous society and reaching the first centenary goal. Rapid socioeconomic development over the past decades has enhanced national strength, governance capacity, and social security system. This advancement laid material and institutional foundations for further poverty reduction. But China still faced the tough challenge of lifting the most impoverished population in rural areas out of poverty. The CPC Central Committee with General Secretary Xi Jinping as the core leader put forward the concept of targeted poverty alleviation. This innovative approach has been uniquely effective in poverty elimination.
3. China’s Proposal for Targeted Poverty Reduction
3.1. Targeted Poverty Reduction as a National Strategy
Since the 18th CPC National Congress in late 2012, poverty alleviation has been incorporated into the Five-sphere Integrated Plan and the Four-pronged Comprehensive Strategy put forth by the CPC Central Committee with Xi Jinping as the core leader. Poverty reduction is a necessary step for realizing the first centenary goal and the Chinese dream of national rejuvenation. President Xi Jinping has been deeply concerned about poverty-stricken regions and households, and has devoted much of his energy to fighting poverty. He has presented some important ideas and made some major policies. Increase in rural standard of living is crucial to achieving initial prosperity of the countryside. The anti-poverty campaign would leave behind no single poor area or single impoverished person (China Daily, 2019).
The CPC Central Committee and the State Council released in November 2013 Action Plan on Rural Development and Poverty Eradication. In 2014, while attending the deliberation session of the Guizhou delegation at the 2nd plenary session of the 12th National People’s Congress, president Xi stated, “The CPC cadres should pay inspection tours to identify the truly poor. Poverty reduction must reach intended hands or those who truly need it, and poverty must be eradicated completely” (Xinhuanet, 2014). January 2014 saw the release of Guideline on Promoting Poverty Reduction in Rural Areas with Innovative Policies, making comprehensive plans for targeted poverty relief nationwide. Poverty Alleviation Office of the State Council issued a Work Plan on the Registration of the Poor Population, collecting data about poverty-stricken individuals, households, villages, counties, and regions across rural China by the end of 2014. November 17, 2014 was observed as the first National Poverty Alleviation Day when president Xi Jinping (2014) urged “the Party and the society to work hard to reduce poverty.” The CPC central committee and people’s government at all levels should make more efforts to poverty reduction, which calls for targeted policies in line with local conditions. CPC cadres and the people in poor areas should be mobilized to promote poverty reduction.
In late November 2015, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued the Decision on Winning the Fight against Poverty, making an overall plan to eliminate extreme poverty by the end of 2020. In his report to the 19th CPC National Congress, Xi (2017) stressed the need to mobilize the whole Party, the whole country, and the whole of society to win the battle against poverty. The CPC promises moderate prosperity will be shared by all regardless of being poor or rich previously. At a seminar on poverty reduction in March 2020, president Xi Jinping (2020) called for continuous efforts to win a complete victory in the battle against poverty despite the arrival and spread of Covid-19. He said, “The goals of poverty alleviation must be reached as scheduled. We must devote our efforts to tackling this tough task” (Xi, 2020). All the rural population and impoverished villages and counties must be lifted out of poverty by 2020. All sectors of society are mobilized to combat poverty. The Chinese people led by the CPC work hard with great determination, extraordinary efforts, and targeted measures. The top-down anti-poverty mechanism has developed into an effective, efficient poverty reduction strategy.
3.2. Achievements of Targeted Poverty Reduction
Continuous efforts and dedication to poverty relief turn out fruitful and successful. The impoverished population has decreased sharply, and household income in poverty-stricken areas has risen rapidly. Besides, the infrastructure in poor regions has improved remarkably.
The impoverished population and the incidence of poverty both shrank considerably, thanks to the effective targeted policies and programs launched at all levels of government. A nationwide database has been established to track and monitor conditions of the impoverished people, households, and villages. Rural poor population fell from 98.99 million in 2012 to 43.35 million by 2016. The incidence of rural poverty declined from 10.2% to 4.5%, down 5.7 percentage points. By the end of 2020, China had won a decisive victory in anti-poverty war. Extreme poverty was eventually eradicated. The 98.99 million rural poor living below the poverty line all bid farewell to poverty. The 128,000 impoverished villages and 832 designated poor counties were lifted out of poverty. China has eliminated poverty over entire regions and eradicated extreme poverty.
Personal and household incomes see rapid growth in rural poor regions. The per capita disposable income of the rural poor climbed from RMB 6079 in 2013 to RMB 12,588 in 2020, up 11.6% annually on average. The growth rate was 2.3 percentage points higher than the national rural average. The rural poor witness a steady increase in their wage income and operative income, demonstrating their stronger capability of ending poverty through hard work and relentless efforts. China’s ethnic minorities have a large population of 114 million, or 8.49% of the national total. Most of them live in faraway rural areas featuring harsh living conditions such as desert and mountain. Designated poor counties populated by ethnic minorities total 267 out of 592 nationwide. Particular poverty reduction programs have been formulated to tap into the cultural and natural resources in minority groups-inhabited areas, boosting local socioeconomic development. The year 2020 saw the impoverished population slide significantly by 15.6 million in the five autonomous regions (Inner Mongolia, Guangxi, Tibet, Ningxia and Xinjiang) and three provinces with a large multi-ethnic population (Guizhou, Yunnan and Qinghai).
Sharp drop in rural impoverished population and rapid income growth are also promoted by infrastructure development in poverty-stricken areas. These areas witnessed a large rise in quality and quantity of infrastructure. Hard infrastructure, such as roads, railways, electricity access and water supply, has been upgraded. These impoverished areas lack access to power, transport, communications, and clean drinking water. Rural highways accounted for 83.8% of the total, and graded highways made up 93.2% of rural total. These road networks shorten the distance between villages and cities. By the end of 2020, impoverished areas had gained 35,000 kilometers of new railways. Most villages and towns in rural poor areas have access to paved roads and bus transport. Power supply coverage is expanded. At the end of 2020, all county-level administrative units were connected to major power grids in China. Power supply reliability in rural power grids rose to 99.8%, and voltage eligibility rate jumped to 99.7%, widening the rural poor’s access to electricity.
Better water infrastructure boosted agricultural output and people’s living standard. The effective irrigated area has grown by more than 5.35 million hectare and water supply capacity has risen by 18.1 billion cubic meters. Communications infrastructure has reached poverty-stricken areas. More than 98% of poor villages have now gained access to optical fiber communication and 4G technology. Distance education and e-commerce are available in all designated poor counties. The information technologies are widely used in impoverished areas. These infrastructure improvements enable and expand the flows of labor, logistics, information, and knowledge between poor areas and the rest of the country.
In addition to hard infrastructure enhancement, soft infrastructure—including social welfare and healthcare—also witnessed a huge boost. Basic public services for the poor have been improved, as evidenced by better education, health care, and social security. Impoverished people have expanded access to education, medical care, and social assistance. Since 2013, 108,000 rural schools have been renovated for better compulsory education. All school-age children can receive kindergarten and elementary education within their own villages. Poor areas have seen better public cultural services. By the end of 2020, 99.48% of villages in 22 provinces in central and western China had seen their own cultural centers opened. A nationwide campaign has been launched to bring culture to the countryside, enriching the cultural life of the rural poor.
Health care has also been improved greatly. Hospitals have more qualified medical staff. 98% of the designated poor counties now have at least one competent hospital. These county-level hospitals can treat 90% of the diseases that other similar hospitals can. They are able to treat common illnesses and chronic diseases inflicting the impoverished in rural areas. Timely treatment is now guaranteed. Meanwhile, comprehensive social security system has been established in poverty-stricken areas. Rural subsistence allowances see a steady growth in designated poor counties. They have been extended to some 19.36 million impoverished people. Basic pension schemes for rural and non-working urban residents are provided to 60.98 million impoverished.
4. Strong Leadership and Good Governance
Strong leadership and good governance are widely accepted as key determinants for effective poverty reduction. These two essentials, noted Augustin Matata Ponyo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, enhanced his country’s economic growth and substantial poverty alleviation (African Development Bank Group, 2015). The success of China’s targeted poverty reduction campaign is enabled by that country’s governance system. The CPC Central Committee has reinforced the supervision on chief officials and leadership teams at all levels, enhancing the Party leadership and discipline. In terms of poverty alleviation, performances of chief officials and leadership teams are regularly evaluated. In impoverished areas, poverty alleviation is the top priority for chief officials.
Since the concept of targeted poverty alleviation was presented by president Xi Jinping in late 2013, strong leadership and government commitment play a decisive role in the fight against poverty. Human and financial resources have been mobilized nationwide. The poverty-stricken areas saw improvements in grassroots social governance, demonstrating the superiority of China’s system. The CPC organizations at the grassroots level are improved significantly, as they are the cornerstone of rural work. These agencies are responsible for implementing decisions and plans concerning poverty reduction, ensuring the effectiveness and efficiency of government measures. The leading group has been boosted to win the war on poverty. Grassroots CPC organizations have been consolidated for stronger leadership. First Party secretaries and resident work teams or anti-poverty task forces have been posted to impoverished villages. They meet households’ demands, coordinate assistance resources, and make development plan suited to local conditions. A wide variety of highly-capable people are appointed secretaries of village Party organizations—dedicated and innovation-minded CPC members chosen from veterans, college graduates, heads of farmer cooperatives, and returning businessmen and migrant workers. They have a good knowledge of agriculture and are deeply devoted to rural development. Since 2013, more than 3 million first Party secretaries and members of resident work team have been tasked with targeted poverty reduction. They have dedicated themselves to poverty relief by finding innovative, practical solutions to tough problems plaguing the rural poor.
All levels of governments have set and tracked binding targets for poverty eradication. This anti-poverty measures and targets are regularly assessed to see whether they are effective. Some 100 million people have been lifted out of poverty since 2013. Eight hundred thousand government employees were dispatched in 2014 to survey poor households, townships, and counties. Two million government staff were involved in reviewing the accuracy of the information gathered. A nationwide registration system was established as a database for each poor household, so that the government could monitor its progress in reducing poverty and raising living standards. Registration of the poor population has enabled China to gather poverty data about individuals, households and villages. This database system helps make target poverty reduction more effective.
President Xi Jinping has personally assumed leadership, made policies, and commanded the anti-poverty war. He has upheld the principle of seeking truth from facts by inspecting villages, visiting towns, and reaching counties and cities. He embraces this work style and Party spirit by going into the front lines and obtaining first-hand details (China Radio International, 2019). His footsteps reach communities, enterprises, villages, and institutions across China. President Xi Jinping has attended the National Conference on Development-driven Poverty Alleviation and several seminars on poverty eradication. He has made more than 50 inspection tours for poverty alleviation, and has reviewed the evaluation reports for that purpose every year. Over the past seven years, each of his New Year speech has given much attention to the war on poverty. The past eight years saw his annual discussions with delegates over poverty reduction during the Two Sessions. He has visited most, if not all poor villages across China, learning about their hardships, needs, and suggestions. These trips have encouraged grassroots officials and impoverished households to resolutely fight the all-out war.
The CPC village branches play a central role in poverty alleviation, boosting trust and confidence the impoverished people put in the CPC and the people’s government. Those grassroots officials spare no effort to help the rural poor out of poverty. Their continuous commitments have also attracted more investments by a growing number of entrepreneurs in education, cultural tourism, and agricultural products processing, among others. Many college graduates go back to their hometowns to start their own agribusiness, contributing to agricultural and rural modernization and substantial decrease in poverty.
Massive allocation of financial and human resources work together with formulation of plans particular to each poor village and county in a bid to tackle the root causes of local poverty. Local officials have played a vital role in this regard. Poverty alleviation funds from a wide range of sources have been channeled into the battle against poverty. Since 2013, all levels of government have poured some RMB 1.6 trillion into poverty alleviation. State-owned enterprises have committed RMB 1 trillion to poverty reduction program, in addition to several hundred billion in low-interest loans and other forms of aid. The anti-poverty resources are primarily allocated through different government departments and state-owned banks. Four organizations—the State Council Leading Group of Poverty Alleviation and Development, the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), and the Ministry of Finance (MOF)—are deeply involved in allocation and management of government poverty reduction funds. They each have a separate channel for fund to flow from central government to provincial and county authorities. All levels of government and state-owned enterprises in economically better-off regions have been assigned responsibility for anti-poverty work in the designated poor areas. That one-on-one practice fast tracks poverty reduction. For example, agricultural produce in poor rural areas finds its way into urban market. Some government workers are each charged with assisting poor households. Village and township collective income has increased considerably. At the beginning of poverty alleviation, many poor villages had little to no collective income. By the end of 2020, impoverished villages nationwide saw their collective income average at RMB 120,000.
Strong leadership and concerted teamwork are the cornerstone of poverty alleviation effort. Thanks to the CPC’s political and organizational structure, China has established a poverty elimination administration system. The central government makes policies and coordinates programs. The provincial authorities are responsible for poverty reduction efforts. City and county governments are accountable for implementing and overseeing poverty reduction programs. Government officials are posted to poor villages to help needy household. The CPC committees at all levels serve as coordinator, and top officials shoulder responsibility for poverty reduction issues. The leading officials of 22 provinces and their equivalents make and keep their promises to the CPC Central Committee that they will achieve poverty alleviation targets as scheduled. Across china all levels of government—province, city, county, town and village—work hard to win the war on poverty. The poverty-stricken areas bring forward timetables, responsibilities, and accountability.
Massive resources allocation calls for strict oversight. China has combated corruption and misconduct in poverty alleviation with rigorous evaluation, supervision, and specialized inspection. The CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission have launched campaigns against corruption and misconduct. Those who violate rules and regulations have been disciplined for good and clean governance. From early 2016 to late 2020, 337,700 cases of corruption and misconduct were investigated, with 241,300 people disciplined. Supervision is also conducted through audit. The National Audit Office has conducted annual follow-up audit for anti-poverty measures and funds channeled into targeted programs. 832 poor counties have been covered and misused funds dived from 36.3% in 2013 to 1.5% in 2020.
China has improved mechanisms to encourage and facilitate officials’ anti-poverty commitments and dedication. Officials are given more incentives to undertake initiatives and take responsibilities for better performance in the fight against poverty. Devoted officials’ hard work and remarkable achievements are recognized and rewarded with appointment and promotion. These officials, grassroots ones in particular, are highly motivated to fulfill their duties, trying their best to help those in need. First secretaries and resident work teams are politically reliable and professionally competent, fostering creativity and innovation in anti-poverty work. They are deeply committed to this mission and make the impossible possible in the fight against poverty. By 2015, all poor villages had resident task forces, and every impoverished household was assigned an official responsible for poverty eradication.
Since 2013, China has accelerated poverty reduction by enhancing development capacity and bridging the interregional and rural-urban development gap. On February 25, 2021, at the National Poverty Alleviation Summary and Commendation Conference, president Xi Jinping declared that China had won the war against poverty and eliminated extreme poverty. These historic achievements have been made through concerted efforts and targeted measures, promoting the socioeconomic development in poverty-stricken regions.
5. Conclusion
China has made enormous achievements in poverty reduction since 2012 with targeted poverty alleviation programs. That country has taken a multi-dimensional approach to improving the situation in poor areas. All levels of government have made continuous efforts to raise local living standard and improve people’s capacity. The rural poor have more access to food, clothing, education, housing, and health care. Targeted poverty reduction strategy features five key components—education, production, relocation, ecological compensation, and social assistance. Hundreds of millions of poor people have been lifted out of poverty and have better living conditions.
China has adopted a multi-sectoral approach to battling poverty. It has made remarkable progress in improving schools, healthcare, infrastructure, and natural environment. Those impressive improvements are achieved primarily through strong leadership, good governance, and dedication by government officials and local people. Comprehensive systems have been established in assistance, accountability, assessment, supervision, and social mobilization.
China’s recipe for success is relevant to the rest of the world. That country’s experience offers worthwhile information for other countries. For example, large scale infrastructure improvements include transport, power grid, and internet access. The high-speed internet has now reached faraway rural areas. Infrastructure, hard and soft, has promoted agricultural and agro-industrial development in poor areas. Counties and villages designated as impoverished are the focus of targeted poverty reduction. Precise targeting and rigorous assessment are conducted before reclassification of poor counties and villages. This administrative approach is highly effective in poverty reduction. The Chinese government has shifted its focus from anti-poverty efforts to the cause of common prosperity. The CPC has united and led the Chinese people to fight with fortitude to achieve economic prosperity, national rejuvenation, and a happy and better life.