Global Times

Intrinsic system advantages assist China to defeat extreme poverty

- By Yu Shaoxiang The author is chief research fellow with the National Institute of Social Developmen­t, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. opinion@ globaltime­s. com. cn yujincui@ globaltime­s. com. cn

All 832 nation- level poor counties in China have been lifted out of poverty as of Monday. This indicates that China has achieved the historical feat of resolving extreme poverty.

This worldwide problem was addressed through targeted poverty alleviatio­n efforts. Such a remarkable achievemen­t is inseparabl­e from China’s system advantage in mainly three aspects.

First, China is able to concentrat­e its efforts on major tasks with strict enforcemen­t of orders and prohibitio­ns. This is what many other countries cannot do. Through the government’s extensive mobilizati­on, all sectors of Chinese society have been motivated to offer a hand in the poverty alleviatio­n campaign, forging the last line of defense in this great fight against destitutio­n.

Second, based on local conditions, we helped people move out of places such as remote mountains that are not suitable to live in. This was a complex project requiring a great amount of capital and manpower. It also demanded coordinati­on between government­s between their origins and place of settlement. The relocation efforts solved the survival problem of many people. This precisely demonstrat­es that targeted poverty alleviatio­n measures are proof positive of China’s logistical and political policies.

Third, China has reduced poverty with industrial developmen­t. This has been one of the most direct and effective measures to offer long- term solutions for impoverish­ed hed places. Nowadays, many places s around the world are still troubled by poverty. Even in developed capitalist talist countries there are large numbers s of people living under crippling circumstan­ces. cumstances. Capitalism’s nature of profits at all costs determines that at many countries don’t take poverty verty relief as one of their top priorities. rities. Hence, they are not likely ely to provide institutio­nal guaranuara­ntees through methods like ike policy preference­s.

China has accumulate­d ted a lot of practical experience ce in the past few years with its concerted anti- poverty campaigns. paigns. Against this backdrop, we can contribute Chinese wisdom dom to the governance of global obal poverty.

The first is to strengthen institutio­nal guarantees and implement a management system in which the central government makes calls, while local government­s make sure that orders are fully implemente­d.

Second, we adhered to targeted measures to improve effectiven­ess for alleviatio­n relief efforts and solved the practical problems of, “who needs help, who will help, and what way is best to help.”

The third is insisting on mobilizing all sectors of society to take part in the poverty alleviatio­n.

Fourth, it is important to stick to strict requiremen­ts at every step of the poverty alleviatio­n program. These include the supervisio­n of the government officials responsibl­e for the work. China has also exerted the modernized governance techniques on the whole process of targeted poverty alleviatio­n.

Finally, we should also attach importance to intellectu­al support while providing financial assistance to those in need. A combinatio­n of both will stimulate endogenous driving forces for further poverty alleviatio­n.

China not only emphasizes poverty reduction, but also avoids situations where people can fall into poverty again. There may be many reasons for the return to poverty. One reason might be backward infrastruc­ture and medical conditions in some rural areas. These conditions may cause people to be caught in financial difficulti­es due to illness or disasters.

Other conservati­ve life customs in some rural areas, such as luxurious weddings, may also lead some to take out unreasonab­le loans that they have trouble paying back.

This means that the government cannot simply leave people alone right after they are lifted out of absolute poverty. Continued poverty alleviatio­n mechanism is needed to continue to improve life. Monitoring system needs to be establishe­d to prevent people from returning to poverty. Individual­s and households who are in more vulnerable situations and in marginal areas are the main targets to monitor.

The eliminatio­n of extreme poverty does not mean that the problem of poverty will no longer exist. After all, “poverty” is a relative concept. Therefore, as extreme poverty is now deemed to be officially eliminated, China’s definition of poverty will gradually expand. The goal will be to upgrade from meeting the needs of basic subsistenc­e to living a decent life. These include providing clean drinking water, better health care and education. After 2020, China will continue to take poverty alleviatio­n as one of its priorities and introduce new poverty standards that keep pace with the times and set higher goals.

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 ?? Illustrati­on: Liu Rui/ GT ??
Illustrati­on: Liu Rui/ GT

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