China moves to reduce rural poverty

Marilyn Bechtel

At the first-ever China Poverty Eradication Award ceremony on 
October 17 — the International Day for the Eradication of 
Poverty — China announced with great pride that the poor 
population in the country's rural areas had decreased to 29 
million from 250 million in 1978. Now, the government said, only 
about three percent of rural people are impoverished, compared to 
30.7 percent in 1978. China's total population is 1.3 billion.

However, as the newspaper People's Daily points out in its 
account of a quarter century of anti-poverty achievements, much 
remains to be done. If the current standard for extreme poverty -
- an annual income of less than 625 yuan (US$75) — is raised by 
just US$24, the number of impoverished Chinese would rise to 90 
million.

In the mid-1980s, a government-sponsored, large-scale poverty 
relief project was organised throughout the country. A "National 
Program for Poverty Relief" initiated in 1994 was followed in 
2001 by the "Development Outline for Village Poverty Relief 2001-
2010".

The national government's allocation of special poverty relief 
funds has grown to about US$1.5 billion a year from US$121 
million in 1980, for a total allocation of nearly US$13.9 
billion. Last year, local governments also put up some US$363 
million for the campaign.

In recent years the drive to end rural poverty has received 
renewed impetus as emphasis by the Communist Party and the 
government has shifted from the earlier all-out effort to develop 
eastern China to building up the western and north-eastern 
regions.

The stated goal of the effort is "to build a well-off society in 
an all-round way" by 2020. In recent years 15 east coast cities 
have aided 11 western provinces and regions with financial 
support and co-operative projects. Non-governmental organisations 
are increasingly being encouraged to join in the effort.

At the October 17 ceremony, Vice Premier Hui Liangyu urged all 
citizens to participate in the nationwide government-led poverty 
relief programs, and pledged that the government will continue to 
guide, encourage and support both individuals and organisations 
that join the campaign.

Among the 18 institutions and individuals recognised at the 
ceremony were activities like Project Hope to help poor children 
attend primary school, Project Happiness to help poor mothers, 
Project Spring Bud to help girls who have dropped out of school, 
and The Glorious Cause, to help private businesses in 
underdeveloped areas.

Also recognised were 90-year-old Bai Fangli, who used his pension 
and the money he earned riding a pedicab to provide financial aid 
to poor university students, and a Zhejiang Province businessman 
who donated US$600,000 to the project.

Among the anti-poverty programs' achievements:

* Between 1986 and 2003, almost 4.5 million acres of farmland was 
added, and almost 75 million people gained access to clean 
drinking water. By 2003, almost 83 percent of villages in poor 
areas had access to roads, electricity, telephone, and radio and 
television broadcasts.

* School conditions in poor rural areas are much better, and the 
dropout rate among school-age children has been cut to 7.8 
percent.

* Agricultural training classes have helped poor farmers learn to 
grow traditional crops more productively, and to switch to new, 
more economically productive crops. Poorly educated farmers are 
helped through innovative methods, such as incorporating crop 
growing techniques into local folk songs and illustrating such 
techniques through cartoons.

Among regions receiving special attention have been the south-
western province of Yunnan, where the provincial government 
invested close to US$363 million in anti-poverty projects last 
year, helping 400,000 poor people obtain food and housing.

However, despite the efforts of the central and provincial 
governments, Yunnan is still home to the largest poor population 
in China, because of unfavourable geographical conditions as well 
as slow economic development. Last year the province set a goal 
to invest another US$544 million to help resettle half a million 
people living in below-subsistence conditions within five years.

Central and local governments have also prioritised Tibet, 
allocating over US$36 million to energy, water conservation, road 
construction and drinking water projects that benefited tens of 
thousands of Tibetans. Going beyond basic food and clothing, 
programs are now focusing on social and economic development in 
agricultural and pastoral areas as well as overall improvements 
in living standards.

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Peoples Weekly World, Communist Party USA