President Xi's hands-on approach to poverty relief

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Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed the importance of “precision” in the battle against poverty during a visit to a village in Zhangbei county, under jurisdiction of Zhangjiakou city in north China’s Hebei Province last week, a few days before the Spring Festival.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, said that he has always placed poverty alleviation high on his agenda. “This is what I always care about and what I must pay close attention to wherever I go,” he told a group of local villagers and officials, emphasizing that poverty alleviation should focus on targeted people and industries.

In Xi’s words, fighting poverty is the fundamental task in building an all-round moderately prosperous society.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (C) visits the home of villager Xu Wan in Desheng Village, Xiaoertai town, Zhangbei county, Zhangjiakou city in north China's Hebei Province, on January 24, 2017. /Xinhua Photo

Chinese President Xi Jinping (C) gives New Year's greetings to villagers in Desheng village, Xiaoertai town, Zhangbei county, Zhangjiakou city in north China's Hebei Province, on January 24, 2017. /Xinhua Photo

It was Xi’s latest visit to an impoverished region of China. He has visited over 30 impoverished villages in 28 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions across the country since the 18th CPC National Congress in November 2012, getting firsthand information on the situation of poor people and encouraging them to shake off poverty in various ways.

Incorporating footage of Xi’s visits to six impoverished regions from December 2012 to January 2017, China Central Television (CCTV) released a short video recently, entitled “who does Xi Jinping care about the most?”

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visits to impoverished regions. /CGTN Photo

“I care about the poor the most,” Xi gave his own answer in his New Year speech on December 31, 2016. In fact, he has made this same statement in his New Year speeches for three consecutive years.

Chinese President Xi Jinping extends New Year greetings to all Chinese compatriots and people around the world in his New Year speech in Beijing on December 31, 2016. /Xinhua Photo

In the CCTV video, Xi paid visits to poor residents in Hebei, Gansu, Yunnan and Anhui provinces and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. He sat with local villagers, asked about their lives and health, tried their water and food, and encouraged them to overcome difficulties and create a better future.

“I feel so happy to see you,” an aged man got emotional for Xi’s arrival at his village in Weiyuan county, Gansu Province in February 2013.

“I’m also very glad to see you,” said the Chinese president, who then walked into the man’s bungalow and checked the cleanness of his drinking water.

In January 2014, Xi visited a village in Yi'ershi town, Xing'an League in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. He asked about the villagers’ preparations for the upcoming Chinese New Year as well as their employment and income.

“The fundamental purpose of the Party is to serve the people,” Xi stressed. “Actually I can’t go to see many people around the Spring Festival, but I always want to see those who are representative, whose standards of living are not high, or who have difficulties in life.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping asks about the blood pressure of a villager in Dawan village, Jinzhai county in Anhui Province on April 24, 2016. /CGTN Screenshot

More than 700 million Chinese have been lifted out of poverty since the start of China’s reform and opening-up in 1978. According to a poverty alleviation plan issued last year, the government has vowed to lift everybody out of poverty by 2020, which means lifting at least 10 million people out of poverty each year from 2016 to 2020. The Chinese government defines poverty as having an income of less than 2,600 yuan (377 US dollars) per year. The plan also puts an emphasis on the principle of “precision” poverty relief, which means China will take precise, targeted and differentiated measures to ensure effective poverty reduction.

In his New Year speech for 2017, Xi said that 10 million more people had been lifted out of poverty in 2016 and urged the whole Party and the whole society to continue to help people in poverty.

(Story by Wang Lei; video edited by Zhou Yiqiu)