Down-to-earth endeavors key to poverty alleviation goal

Setting a deadline for eradicating poverty requires confidence; especially, setting a very short one for eliminating “abject poverty”. However, the country has a proud record in poverty alleviation in the past more than three decades, which has given the current Communist Party of China leadership the confidence to set the deadline to eliminate any enduring poverty by 2020, ahead of its 100th anniversary in 2021. President Xi Jinping’s remarks on poverty alleviation on Friday show the CPC leadership is not only confident of achieving that goal, but also well aware of what needs to be done to lift the remaining about 40 million rural villagers out of abject poverty in the next three years.

As Xi pointed out, most of the poverty-stricken villagers now reside in very underdeveloped areas, where the ecological environment is fragile, natural disasters occur frequently, the proportion of destitute rural residents is very high and the local collective economy is weak. As a result, the task ahead is extremely tough and demanding.

It is not just inputs of both financial support and human resources by local governments that will enable these villagers to escape poverty, but also the way such inputs are distributed and used. That explains why targeted poverty alleviation measures have been emphasized.

What is particularly important, as Xi emphasized in his speech, is that the poverty alleviation targets for local governments must be realistic, based on local realities and local conditions. Specifically, the rural poor should no longer have to worry about safe shelter, food and clothing, their children’s education and basic healthcare services.

The new emphasis placed on precision — taking the right measures, at the right time, in the right way — will add to the efficiency of specific relief efforts. But the introduction of the strictest report and supervision mechanism that Xi is initiating to prevent corruption and fraud, and his call for an enhanced support system of upgraded infrastructure and improved public services, will make the difference in efforts to ensure those rural residents still struggling to shake off poverty can do so.

A long-term support system is essential in this regard since poverty alleviation achievements in some localities have proven fragile in the past, as there have been cases where people have slid back in poverty due to sudden illness or their efforts to meet the burden of children’s education expenses.

Translating Xi’s proposals for better support and more effective measures into down-to-earth endeavors at the grassroots level is the guarantee for conquering the stubborn residual poverty in the country.