Poverty poses a threat to China no less severe than a war, plaguing a population of around 16 million, according to data up until February 2019, equaling the population of Ireland and Portugal combined.

The number attests to not only the size of the issue but also that of China's success so far in solving it. After the central government declared a "war on poverty" in 2017, more than 13 million people had been lifted above the country's poverty line, set at the individual annual net income of 400 U.S. dollars.  

Among the arsenal to alleviate poverty, money remains fundamental. The relevant budgets had totaled 67.4 billion U.S. dollars in 2018, of which a huge share went to relocating people from resource-lean regions to more economically vibrant areas. The average cost was registered at about 8,488 U.S. dollars per person in 2018, said Liu Yongfu, head of China's poverty reduction office. 2.8 million people had moved homes during the year, which means the total cost could have reached 24 billion dollars.

Of all the vital infrastructure that help deliver people from impoverishment, the road is a prerequisite. Around 46 billion dollars had been allocated to road construction in impoverished regions over the past five years. Eighty-four percent of the country's road network now sits in rural areas.

Social benefits for the impoverished tends to burn a hole in budget relief in the long run. Allocating the fund to empower people with the necessary skills to stay self-sufficient is more sustainable. From 2017 to 2018, 20 million dollars were channeled from the central government budget to more than a thousand poverty-stricken villages around the country, benefiting 480,000 people. 

China's booming e-commerce is crucial for the success of the small enterprises of Xu and Li. T-Mall and Taobao, China's crown-jewel online shopping platforms founded by Jack Ma of Alibaba, has brought shopping to consumers' fingertips. The convenience of buying and paying online has electrified niche markets, inspiring more people to realize their entrepreneurial ideas.

Technology, including e-commerce, has made deeper inroads into rural areas. China's vast territory can offer business opportunities beyond farming and housing, even with infertile soil.

Before further poverty alleviation measures can take effect, tackling food shortages, providing basic education and medical care remain policy priorities for the extremely poor areas, where most are still living under the 400-dollar poverty line. Doctors and teachers are sent to far-flung regions together with other volunteers to meet the most urgent needs. According to China's health authority, 1,007 of the country's best equipped hospitals have partnered with 1,172 medical centers in impoverished counties to provide training and staff. In 2018, the Ministry of Education rolled out the campaign to recruit 45,000 qualified college graduates for the posts of village schoolteachers, in addition to a project of training headteachers from the underdeveloped areas in west China.