‘Miracle’ in China as leader claims an end to poverty

THE RULING Communist Party is celebrating what it claims to be the official end of extreme poverty in China with a propaganda campaign praising President Xi Jinping.

It is part of efforts to cement his image as a history-making leader reclaiming his country’s place as a global power.

The propaganda apparatus has been linking national successes to Mr Xi, including fighting coronavirus, China’s rise as a technology creator and December’s successful mission to bring back rocks from the moon.

The party announced in November that China no longer had anyone in extreme poverty. That was down from an official estimate of almost 99 million living on annual incomes of less than 2,300 yuan (£250) per person a decade ago.

Average income per person among the “rural underprivileged” rose from 2,982 yuan (£326) in 2015 to 10,740 yuan (£1,175) last year, according to officials.

The full-scale propaganda campaign launched this month has filled state-controlled newspapers and airwaves with reports on the anti-poverty milestone and Mr Xi’s personal role.

They credit him with launching an initiative shortly after taking power in 2012 that enabled China to beat by a decade the 2030 target set by the World Bank for eliminating extreme poverty.

A report by the party’s People’s Daily newspaper this week on the “historic leap” refers to Mr Xi by his full name and title as party leader 121 times.

“General Secretary Xi Jinping has stood at the strategic height of building a well-off society in an all-around way and realising the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,” the newspaper said.

The event gives the ruling party a political trophy ahead of this year’s celebration of the 100th anniversary of its 1921 founding. It comes at a time when China’s economy is growing again following coronavirus while the US, Europe and other areas are still struggling with outbreaks.

The party said it reached the milestone despite having to take the unprecedented step of shutting down most of China’s economy in early 2020 to fight coronavirus.

Mr Xi cited anti-poverty work as a sign of the effectiveness of the ruling party’s system.

“We have finished the arduous task of eradicating absolute poverty and created a miracle that shall go down in history,” he said.