China poverty alleviation, raising standard of living

[LowPost]

China’s Poverty Reduction – A Job Done?

By Agi Veres (People's Daily Online) 10:24, October 16, 2015

As the new Country Director for UNDP China, having arrived from Lesotho – an African country of almost 2 million people – I am constantly impressed by China’s statistics relating to alleviating poverty and the Millennium Development Goals. For instance, between 1990 and 2011, China lifted a staggering 439 million people out of poverty, and the extreme poverty rate in China dropped by 94%. China has contributed to 76% of global poverty reduction achieved to date, and has met other key development goals, including those relating to universal primary education, safe drinking water and sanitation, and maternal mortality.

Nevertheless, as I ponder these huge achievements I am struck by the fact that poverty does still remain in China. As was cited repeatedly at the Global Poverty Reduction and Development Forum, organized on 16 October 2015 and opened by President Xi Jinping, today just over 70 million people still live below China’s national poverty line. This is about the equivalent of the entire population of Thailand here in Asia.

The Chinese government has laudably committed to address this. President Xi designated poverty reduction as a major part of his domestic agenda, and in visits to Yan’an and Guiyang earlier this year he announced a target to lift all the remaining poor people in rural China out of poverty by 2020. This really means lifting 11 million people out of poverty, every year for five years running. It will be no mean feat.

But having worked in China for just over two month now, I am already convinced China can do this. In 1994, the first ever poverty relief action plan in China’s history was released, with clearly defined objectives, targets, measures and a deadline to help lift 80 million people out of poverty. This was followed by two further China Rural Poverty Reduction and Development Programs from 2001-2010 and 2011-2020. The State Council Leading Group of Poverty Alleviation and Development and its Office (LGOP), that hosted the October 16th conference, has played a key role in this. Few other countries have such a special coordination mechanism. Added to this, the funding and initiatives devoted to poverty reduction have continued to increase in absolute and per capita terms, and China is constantly adopting policies to strengthen people’s self-resilience. Recent new policies to allow farmers to use land as collateral for loans stand as a good example.

Over the last 30 years, UNDP, including through the International Poverty Reduction Center in China (IPRCC), has been assisting in this process. Yet, while I believe China can meet its poverty reduction targets, I also believe there continues to be a role for UNDP in supporting China to do so. Two reasons stand out. First, poverty is not simply a lack of adequate income; it is also a lack of knowledge, health, dignity, rights, and voice. UNDP can support central and local governments to really target and reach marginalized groups, such as ethnic minority women, who may have little voice but need help in achieving self-sufficiency. UNDP has been working to empower ethnic minority women to use their traditional skills and crafts to improve livelihoods and socio-economic status while preserving their cultural identity.

Second, UNDP can bring innovation and ideas from our global network to China to consider and pilot. For example, one of the UNDP’s comprehensive and innovate strategies to reduce poverty, “inclusive finance” is a powerful tool to address the lack of financial services. As early as 1994, UNDP established microfinance pilots in 49 counties across 17 provinces and autonomous regions. We continue to pilot innovative approaches, such as business management training, credit cooperatives, agent and mobile banking to support poor and low-income farmers, which, if successful, can be scaled up by central and local governments.

Many countries around the world are rightly envious of China’s achievements in poverty alleviation. While eradicating poverty is now just one aspect of the new Sustainable Development Goals agreed by 193 UN Member States in September 2015, it nevertheless remains critical. At UNDP, we will remain on hand to help China complete the job of eradicating domestic poverty by 2020. And we will also remain on hand to support China to share its experiences in poverty alleviation with envious and admiring countries.

The author is UNDP country director in China.

China’s Poverty Reduction – A Job Done? - People's Daily Online

 

[AndrewJin]

The job is not finished.
I am witnessing massive housing projects and other infra projects in western Sichuan.

 

[JSCh]

Xi pledges stronger support to rid all Chinese of poverty
Xinhua, October 16, 2015

The Chinese government will enact more support policies to lift the country's 70 million poor people above the poverty line by 2020, President Xi Jinping pledged on Friday ahead of the 23rd International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

Addressing the Global Poverty Reduction and Development Forum in Beijing, Xi said China will engage in concerted efforts with the government and the public to fight the hard battle against poverty.

In his speech, Xi drew on his personal experiences in the 1960s working as a farmer in a small village in northwestern Shaanxi Province, where he was struck by the poor life conditions in rural China.

But over the past decades, China has made remarkable progress in poverty relief.

China has lifted more than 600 million people out of poverty in the past 15 years, accounting for about 70 percent of those brought out of poverty worldwide.

It was the first developing country to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) target of reducing the population living in poverty by half ahead of the 2015 deadline.

"Despite the achievements, China remains the world's biggest developing country, and to narrow the urban-rural gap remains a big challenge for us," Xi said.

As of the end of 2014, China still had 70.17 million people in the countryside living below the country's poverty line of 2,300 yuan (376 U.S. dollars) in annual income.

The president said poverty alleviation will be a major part of China's post-2015 agenda.

While striving to reduce poverty at home, China has also been actively supporting the cause in other developing countries.

Over the past 60 years, China has provided 166 countries and international organizations with nearly 400 billion yuan of assistance.

China has also announced seven times it would exempt, without any conditions, the matured inter-governmental interest free loans owned by heavily-indebted poor countries and least developed countries.

At a United Nations summit last month the goal of eliminating poverty in 15 years was laid out and China pledged an initial 2 billion U.S. dollars to establish an assistance fund to help developing nations fight poverty.

In a video message for Friday's Forum, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon praised China's remarkable achievements in poverty alleviation, saying the UN welcomes those significant and generous proposals from President Xi and looks forward to further progress with an indispensable partnership with China.

Saturday also marks China's second National Poverty Relief Day.

 

[hexagonsnow]

Poverty Reduction nowadays is not only a mission for China. To improve the quality of life level can also increase the domestic consumption. The infrastructure is the first step, when the whole area economic development, the increasing consumption ability will happened soon. The people are willing to get better life if they have enough money to consume. So the virtuous circle is completed.

 

[ahojunk]

At a United Nations summit last month the goal of eliminating poverty in 15 years was laid out and China pledged an initial 2 billion U.S. dollars to establish an assistance fund to help developing nations fight poverty.

Well done, China!

The best human rights is the elimination of poverty.

While in America, they are concerned about their human rights to own guns.

 

[TaiShang]

China pledges more poverty relief
October 18, 2015

China's hard battle against poverty has not only benefited its own development but has been a major boon globally by reducing the global impoverished population, aiding less developed regions and providing useful experience to other countries.

Chinese President Xi Jinping addresses the 2015 Global Poverty Reduction and Development Forum in Beijing, capital of China, Oct 16, 2015. [Photo/Xinhua]

Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged more support policies on Friday to lift its poor people above the poverty line by 2020, when addressing the Global Poverty Reduction and Development Forum held in Beijing to mark the 23rd International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on Saturday. The day also marks China's second National Poverty Relief Day.

Xi said China will work with the government and the public to fight the battle against poverty.

China has made remarkable progress in poverty relief. It has lifted more than 600 million people out of poverty in the past 30 years, accounting for about 70 percent of those brought out of poverty worldwide. The poverty rate stood at 7.2 percent last year, markedly lower from the 73.5 percent in 1990, using the country's poverty line of 2,300 yuan (376 US dollars) in annual income by 2010 price standards.

To improve living conditions, infrastructure and public services have been improved in rural areas. More people in poverty-stricken regions have enjoyed better houses, cheap electricity, clean water, improved medical services and education.

China was the first developing country to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) target of reducing the population living in poverty by half ahead of the 2015 deadline.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon praised China's remarkable achievements in poverty alleviation in a video message for Friday's Forum, while Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, also said China has played a significant role in reducing poverty worldwide.

The U.N. said on an earlier occasion that China has achieved many of the MDG targets ahead of schedule, which has greatly contributed to overall realization of the goals globally.

While striving to reduce poverty at home, China has also actively supported the cause in other developing countries.

Over the past 60 years, China has provided nearly 400 billion yuan in assistance to 166 countries and international organizations, forgiven inter-governmental interest-free loans owed by heavily-indebted poor countries seven times, and given medical support to 69 countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and Oceania.

At a United Nations summit in September, Xi pledged an initial 2 billion US dollars to establish an assistance fund to help developing nations fight poverty, and promised more support for improvements in agriculture, trade, environmental protection, medical services and education.

Ban said on Friday the U.N. welcomes significant commitments and generous proposals from Xi and looks forward to further progress in poverty relief through its partnership with China.

The World Bank data showed there are still 800 million people living in dire poverty around the world.

China's progress in anti-poverty work has also provided experience for countries still plagued by extreme poverty.

Tsinghua University economist Hu Angang attributed the success to the fact that China has explored its own path and gained precious experience in poverty relief.

Hu said the anti-poverty campaign has been one of the country's major development strategies for decades, and the government has been using a special agency and overall guidelines to coordinate and promote the process.

Moreover, high and sustainable economic growth played a decisive role in reducing poverty, Hu said. The modernization of rural regions has reduced the poor population, and rising fiscal revenues have allowed the government to increase support to impoverished areas.

The central government allocated 39 billion yuan for poverty alleviation in 2013, up 18.9 percent year on year. In 2014, the figure was raised another 10 percent to 43.3 billion.

However, the battle against poverty is still not an easy task and more effort is needed for further progress.

"Despite the achievements, China remains the world's biggest developing country, and narrowing the urban-rural gap remains a big challenge for us," Xi said.

As of the end of 2014, China still had 70.17 million people in the countryside living in poverty, data showed.

 

[Shotgunner51]

China’s Poverty Reduction – A Job Done? - People's Daily Online

For urban China: Yes. The World Bank (PovalNet) data shows in reference year of 2012, poverty in urban China was 0.42%, basically it's been eradicated.

For rural China: No. Almost the entire poverty is in rural China. Much works are needed for those living in difficult geographies/terrains where connectivity is limited, for those living in mid-western parts, and for many minority ethnic groups.

 

[ahojunk]

“Donate One Yuan” — Love is around you
By Ding Yining | July 25, 2016, Monday

Micky Pant, CEO of Yum! China, poses with school children in Xundian county in Kunming, Yunnan Province.

YUM! China’s nationwide charitable campaign “Donate One Yuan” is entering its 9th year this summer and has the potential to raise more funds and generate more awareness as well as public support than ever before.

The “Donate One Yuan” program began in 2008, in collaboration with the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation. It aims to encourage employees and customers at Yum! China’s nationwide network of KFC, Pizza Hut, Pizza Hut Delivery and East Dawning restaurants to give small donations — starting from just one yuan (US$0.15) — to provide nutrition enhancement food for needy children in China’s most impoverished mountainous areas.

Through Yum! China’s network of more than 7,000 restaurants, the campaign has so far raised close to 130 million yuan in the past eight years, which includes over 25 million yuan from the company and its employees.

“Yum! China is built upon a foundation of excellence, and this extends right across our businesses — from the restaurants that we operate, our people and through to the food that we serve. We take great pride in our track record, but the greatest satisfaction for all of us is achieved through the ability to give back to the country and the communities that we are a part of,” said Micky Pant, CEO of Yum! China.

“I personally encourage all of our 400,000 employees in China to support this campaign, as we do as a business, and I would like to take this opportunity to ask our customers and society at large to get behind this.”

One yuan is a small amount of money, but when you multiply it by millions of people, it can go a very long way. I recently visited a rural school in Xundian County, Kunming which directly benefits from ‘Donate One Yuan,’ and saw firsthand the difference that we are able to make to people’s everyday lives.

“I would like to challenge everyone to help make this a record breaking year for this great cause, and help us to help more people, more families and more communities in more parts of China than ever before,” said Pant.

To ensure that the donations go where they are intended, and following the campaign’s initial launch in 2008, Yum! China has renovated all of its cashier systems to separate the donations of individual customers from its everyday business revenue.

This year, the slogan for “Donate One Yuan” is “Love is around you.” By posting the slogan through media outlets and on social networking sites, Yum! China hopes to send the message directly to consumers that donations are not the only way to make a contribution, simply spreading the word acts to raise awareness from a larger proportion of the society.

Working with the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation, the “Donate One Yuan” project has provided around 30 million supplement meals for more than 185,000 children by the end of March this year, and the areas receiving the aid has spread from Sichuan Province to other regions such as Yunnan, Guangxi, Guizhou and Hunan. It has also donated ‘Love Canteens’ equipment to more than 600 schools in impoverished mountain areas.

 

[TaiShang]

China leads the world in driving poverty reduction
Source: Xinhua | October 4, 2016, Tuesday |

CHINA’S success in reducing poverty has driven poverty reduction globally, and it could set an example for the rest of the world to end extreme poverty, a senior World Bank official has said.

“Much of the success in poverty reduction globally has actually been driven by China’s incredible success in reducing poverty,” Ana Revenga, senior director on poverty and quality at the World Bank, said during a teleconference on its Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2016 report.

The report showed that nearly 800 million people lived on less than US$1.9 a day in 2013. That is around 100 million fewer extremely poor people than in 2012.

From 1990 to 2013, the extremely poor fell from 35 percent of the world’s population to just under 11 percent.

The progress on extreme poverty was driven mainly by East Asia and Pacific, especially China, Indonesia and India, said the report.

Despite the good news “there is no room for complacency,” said Francisco Ferreira, senior adviser to the World Bank’s Development Research Group.

The report showed half of the world’s extreme poor live in Sub-Saharan African and another third in South Asia.

“The pockets of poverty that remain will become increasingly harder to reach and address,” said Ferreira.

The report forecast that the world would be unable to achieve the goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030, even under optimistic scenarios for growth with no change in inequality. The World Bank set a target of reducing the poverty headcount ratio from 12.4 percent globally in 2012 to 3 percent by 2030.

China has been a lesson to the rest of the world on how to tackle extreme poverty, said Revenga. “If anybody can show the world how to go that last mile, it probably is China,” she said.

The report also found that in 34 of 83 countries monitored, income gaps widened as incomes grew faster for the wealthiest 60 percent than among the bottom 40 percent, despite inequality falling in many places since 2008.

The World Bank called on countries to adopt policies, such as early childhood education, universal health coverage, universal access to education, rural infrastructure construction, progressive taxation and cash transfers to poor families, in order to create growth and enable the poorest to take advantage of opportunities.

 

[Nilgiri]

Full report can be found here:

http://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/poverty-and-shared-prosperity

https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/25078/9781464809583.pdf

 

[AndrewJin]

2020 is the deadline.

 

[ahojunk]

WB chief suggests learning from China in poverty relief
2016-10-10 16:49 | Ecns.cn | Editor: Mo Hong'e

(ECNS) -- World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said the world can learn a lot from China in reaching the global goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030.

Kim said China has lifted about 700 million people out of poverty in the past three decades while promising to eradicate it entirely in the near future.

China's resolution and methods of tackling poverty provide good examples, added the re-elected World Bank chief.

In 60 out of the 83 countries covered by a World Bank report titled Poverty and Shared Prosperity, the average income went up for people living in the bottom 40 percent of their nations' economies between 2008 and 2013 despite the financial crisis.

Kim said it's remarkable that countries have continued to reduce poverty and boost shared prosperity at a time when the global economy is underperforming — but added far too many people still live with far too little.

He also said the World Bank target of ending extreme poverty by 2030 is at risk unless more rapid global growth returns and inequalities are reduced.


*********

A political commentator said that China has set a commitment for its leaders to eradicate poverty by 2020.
No other country has made such a commitment.

 

[somebozo]

Kim said China has lifted about 700 million people out of poverty in the past three decades while promising to eradicate it entirely in the near future.

they will have to radically rethink the system of liberal economics, job creation , taxes, banking etc.

 

[ahojunk]

they will have to radically rethink the system of liberal economics, job creation , taxes, banking etc.

.
They = other countries?

If you are referring to China - you don't fix something that is working well and ain't broken.

 

[ahojunk]

President Xi stresses implementation of poverty relief measures
Source: Xinhua | 2016-10-16 16:56:34 | Editor: huaxia

BEIJING, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping have urged local authorities to leave no stone unturned in the solid implementation of precision-poverty relief measures to lift the nations's poor out of poverty.

He made the remarks in a congratulatory statement sent to a commendation meeting held on Sunday in Beijing, which honored organizations and individuals for their outstanding poverty alleviation contributions.

Xi called for the combined efforts of officials in poverty-stricken areas and all sectors of society to battle poverty and support the reform and innovation of poverty relief measures.

It is important that role models of poverty-relief work are identified and celebrated, as this will mobilize the whole of society to participate and take further action to combat poverty, the president said.

In his written instruction to the meeting, Premier Li Keqiang noted that local officials should follow the examples set by the honored role models and roll out precision poverty relief measures.

Li urged local authorities to ensure that the nation's poor are helped to shake off poverty with greater determination, more powerful measures and more solid implementation.

Vice Premier Wang Yang, also head of the State Council Leading Group of Poverty Alleviation and Development, said at the meeting that the mobilizing mechanism and policy support system for poverty relief should be improved to encourage the full participation of all walks of life to reduce poverty.

More than 600 million Chinese were lifted out of poverty in the past three decades, about 70 percent of the world total. China became the first developing country to meet the millennium development target.

For the coming years, the government has named poverty reduction one of its top priorities, vowing to help the remaining 70 million poor people, who live below the poverty line of 2,300 yuan (343 U.S. dollars) in annual income, shake off poverty and enjoy essential social services by 2020.