I'm Robert Lawrence Kuhn and here's what I'm watching: How China's people-centered philosophy of poverty alleviation and rural revitalization enable real understanding of China. For almost a decade, I have been focusing on China's concern for its poorest citizens, and how, under President Xi Jinping, China has worked to enhance the standards of living, to improve the lives of the country's vast and diverse population, especially through the "targeted poverty alleviation campaign."

As an example of the absence of understanding, when a rather sophisticated foreigner watched my documentary on China's poverty alleviation campaign, he remarked, "I didn't realize China's leadership cared at all for its poor." China's poverty alleviation campaign had brought nearly 100 million of the intractably poor out of extreme poverty. For China to achieve the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation, the eradication of all extreme poverty in 2020 was indeed necessary, but it was not sufficient. China must continue to fight relative poverty by reducing the still-substantial relative poverty and close the still-excessive wealth gap, primarily between rural and urban areas. Without the revitalization of the countryside, there can be no social stability, no national prosperity, no national rejuvenation. Thus, as 2021 began, President Xi without hesitation or much time to celebrate transitioned from poverty alleviation to rural revitalization, with the continuing goal to improve the lives of rural citizens, farmers and workers.

While grand visions are formulated by central leadership, they must be implemented by local officials who run the grassroots programs. In my in-depth field work, I was startled to witness local officials dispatched to impoverished villages to manage poverty alleviation full time, often for two years. Party officials fighting poverty could not be promoted unless and until they fulfilled their specific, numeric poverty alleviation goals. Officials knew that their careers prospered or faltered based on results. I watched local officials being held accountable, their careers at stake.

However, an inherent danger lurks. With the poverty alleviation campaign declared victorious, with the spotlight of attention having moved on, there is less incentive for local officials to worry over those poor who, just out of poverty, might fall back into poverty. Leadership is aware of this latent problem and is devising policies to address it. Improving healthcare services is essential because illness is the leading cause of the poor sinking back into poverty. Developing specialty industries will help enable stable employment. Connecting poor areas to the internet has both short-term benefits for marketing agricultural products and long-term benefits for providing equal education. And for those poor villagers who were relocated, enhancing social management will help them integrate into society. Critically, the government is not just taking the word of local officials. Independent evaluations assess the real status of formerly impoverished people and areas.

It has become a meaningful tradition in China that the first document issued by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council each year, dubbed the "No. 1 Central Document" (indicating policy priority), concerns modernizing agriculture, building rural areas, and improving the lives of farmers. Document No. 1 exemplifies China's concern for its poorest citizens.

This year, 2023, Document No. 1 again emphasizes how to advance the modernization of three rural work categories: agriculture, rural areas, farmers. The Document stabilizes production and ensures the supply of grain and other critical agricultural products; enhances the construction of agricultural infrastructure; increases support for agricultural science, technology and equipment; consolidates the achievements of poverty alleviation goals; and promotes high-quality development of rural industries.

China's grand vision looks ahead to 2035 and 2050, when standards of living in rural areas should be roughly equal to those of urban areas: achieving basic modernization of agriculture and rural areas including basic public services by 2035, and robust agriculture, beautiful landscapes, and prosperous farmers by 2050.

I'm keeping watch. I'm Robert Lawrence Kuhn.

Script: Robert Lawrence Kuhn

Editors: Yang Yutong, Duan Jiaxin

Designer: Qi Haiming

Producer: Wang Ying

Chief editor: Li Shouen

Supervisors: Ge Jing, Adam Zhu

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