Targeted approach to alleviating poverty

At the closure of the Central Economic Work Meeting on December 11, 2014, the central leadership floated the idea of a targeted approach to alleviating poverty. On June 18, 2015, during his visit to Guizhou Province, President Xi once more raised the subject, believing it will determine the success of the poverty alleviation drive.

It has subsequently become a hot topic among the general public. In its Proposal for Formulating the 13th Five-year Plan for National Economic and Social Development, released in November 2015, the 18th CPC Central Committee specified targeted measures to be taken in the next five years.

Targeted efforts are designed to ensure that average income statistics do not eclipse the true living conditions of many in hardship. Such efforts require attention to detail. Greater emphasis will be laid upon identifying low-income groups in need of assistance so that they receive due attention and their basic standard of living is guaranteed.

The central leadership proposed such a targeted approach at a time when China faced a daunting challenge in its efforts to eliminate the final pockets of poverty across the country. To ensure that poverty reduction efforts are fully effective, Xi called for policies and assistance programs to be tailored to the needs of individual families in conjunction with targeted funding and village-specific expert support. These were to be pursued with a results-oriented focus.