Living standards rise in the nation’s rural areas

China has made historic achievements in eliminating absolute poverty, and is actively pushing for rural vitalization to consolidate and expand poverty alleviation achievements, officials said.

Some 98.99 million impoverished rural residents living under the current poverty line of per capita income of less than 2,300 yuan ($330) a year — about $1 a day — have been lifted out of poverty. By the end of 2020, about 832 impoverished counties and 128,000 impoverished villages were removed from the official poverty list, according to official data.

In 2021, the average per capita disposable income of rural residents more than doubled to 18,931 yuan from the level in 2012.

Deng Xiaogang, vice-minister of agriculture and rural affairs, said the living standards of people in formerly impoverished regions have risen considerably, securing access to adequate food, clothing, safe housing, compulsory education, basic healthcare and clean drinking water.

All formerly poverty-stricken counties have two to three distinct industries to support local development, while the lack of access to transportation, electricity and communications has been solved, he told a recent news conference.

More than 70 percent of rural areas have installed sanitary toilets, while the disposal capacities of waste and sewage have also been improved considerably, he said.

Hong Tianyun, deputy head of the National Rural Revitalization Administration, said the core of China’s poverty alleviation measures includes adherence to the Party’s leadership, a people-centered development strategy and the mobilization of poverty-stricken people.

Consolidating the achievement of poverty alleviation and making sure that there is no large-scale return to poverty are the major tasks for the future, Hong said.

He added that the country will strengthen monitoring of once impoverished people and provide any assistance necessary. Moreover, China will make sure that more than 30 million formerly poverty-stricken people find jobs this year, while improving the rural living environment is an important task in implementing the rural vitalization strategy.

More than 40 million rural household toilets have been refurbished, and the sewage treatment rate in rural areas has reached about 28 percent as a result of a three-year rural living environment upgrade campaign launched in 2018.

More than 95 percent of villages have launched cleanup campaigns, and more farmers have adopted sanitary, green lifestyles, he said.

Deng said that more than 1,000 rural travel routes have been promoted to encourage rural tourism, and the country has more than 300,000 rural recreational restaurants and clubs. Great efforts have also been made to promote e-commerce in rural areas.

There are more than 30,000 rural e-commerce stores, making the sale of distinctive agricultural produce more convenient, he added.