Poverty alleviation under the spotlight at NPC press conference

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China has achieved the best results in fighting against poverty, a government official said on Wednesday at a press conference regarding the country’s targeted poverty alleviation efforts on the sidelines of this year’s Two Sessions.

Decisive progress

“At the end of 2012, the country had 99 million people living in poverty, and the number was reduced to 30.5 million at the end of 2017,” said Liu Yongfu, head of the Office of the State Council’s Leading Group for Poverty Alleviation and Development.

Liu Yongfu, head of the Office of the State Council’s Leading Group for Poverty Alleviation and Development, attends a press conference on the sidelines of the Two Sessions in Beijing, China, March 7, 2018. /Xinhua Photo

More than 68 million people have been lifted out of poverty over the last five years, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang also pointed out in this year’s government work report.

“In five years, the income increase in poor areas is 2.5 percentage points higher than that in rural areas across the country,” said Liu.

Infrastructure and public services in poverty-stricken areas are significantly improved through massive investment, according to Liu.

“The ecological environment in poor areas also sees improvements through the relocation of the poor from inhospitable areas, the conversion of farmland to forests and the arrangement for the poor to protect forests,” said Liu.

Relocation work

In this year’s government work report, Li mentioned the country has achieved the relocation of over eight million poor people, which is one of the effective means to reduce poverty.

The first session of the 13th National People's Congress opens at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 5, 2018. /CGTN Photo

For the impoverished population in inhospitable areas with poor natural resources, it has better to move them to hospitable areas, so as to save costs on poverty alleviation, according to Liu.

The relocation work is complex, and issues should be well considered, like which area the poor population should move to, whether they are willing to move, he added.

“We have invested in the construction of houses, infrastructure and public services, and the development of industries to solve the employment of the poor,” said Liu.

A senior couple in front of their house before resettling in Wanghei Village of Sunkou Town in Taiqian County, central China's Henan Province, November 1, 2017. / Xinhua Photo‍

Financial means

“Financial poverty alleviation is a success of our work. In the past, poverty relief was mainly funded by the central government. Now, financial capital and social capital also come out,” added Liu.

He mentioned three financial products, which are microfinance to poor people, the central bank’s credit to leading enterprises that help poor people, and financial bonds issued by China Development Bank and Agricultural Development Bank of China for relocation work.

Poverty reasons

“There are many reasons behind poverty, including history issues, inconvenient transportation, language barriers, as well as poor people’s inability to get out of poverty,” said Liu.

In the next step, it should be prevented to raise lazy people by policies, according to Liu. “We should change their mind, train them, and improve their skills and abilities to get rid of poverty."

Deepen efforts

Despite the decisive progress achieved in poverty alleviation, there are still 30 million people living in poverty.

The central government will offer strong support to key impoverished areas including Tibet Autonomous Region, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture, and Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture.

President Xi Jinping inspects poverty-relief work in north China's Shanxi Province, June 21, 2017. / Xinhua Photo‍

Liu mentioned that earlier this year, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Liangshan in Sichuan Province. In Chengdu, the provincial capital, he also chaired a conference on how to achieve targeted poverty alleviation.

In 2018, 10 million more will get rid of poverty, according to the government’s arrangement.

No one should be left behind in poverty alleviation, and no false work is allowed, said Liu.

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