On the Way to Eradicating Poverty

China.org.cn October 19

Every year, International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on October 17 unites world leaders in seeking to show tangible progress and create prosperity for citizens without discrimination. Some data, however, aren’t very encouraging, even for developed countries.

A recent Eurostat survey shows approximately 119 million people (23.7 percent of the population) in the European Union were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2015. Although this is a slight decrease in comparison to previous years, it is still higher than in the prefinancial crisis period.

If the situation in developed countries can prove problematic, it is apparently even more complex in developing ones. The case which subsequently deserves particular attention is that of China, for two main reasons.

First, the country has the largest population so that the numbers facing poverty can easily become headline-making. Second, however, the country has already made an enormous contribution to poverty reduction and this performance constitutes a model for its own future policies as well as an example for other states.

A new government white paper provides useful numbers. Specifically, more than 700 million Chinese people have been lifted out of poverty over the past three decades. In addition, the proportion of people living in extreme poverty fell from 61 percent in 1990 to 4.2 percent