Targeted Poverty Relief Chinas New AntiPoverty Strategy.docx

Targeted Poverty Relief Chinas New AntiPoverty Strategy.docx

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TargetedPovertyReliefChinasNewAntiPovertyStrategy

TargetedPovertyReliefChina’sNewAnti-PovertyStrategy

　　Sincethelate1970s，Chinahasmadegreatprogressinlarge-scalepovertyreductionintheprocessofitsreformandopeningup，makingconsiderablecontributiontotherealizationoftheUNMillenniumDevelopmentGoals（MDGs）.However，thenationisstillfacingproblemssuchasincomeinequality，comparativelylowerpovertyline，hugepoorpopulation，andlackoftargetedpovertyalleviationmeasures.Inthiscontext，thestrategyof“targetedpovertyrelief”needstobetakenfurtherforhasteninglarge-scalepovertyreduction.ProgressinPovertyAlleviation

　　Overnearlyfourdecadessinceitbeganthereformandopeninguppolicy，Chinahasgreatlyreducedpovertywhilemaintainingrapideconomicgrowth.AccordingtotheWorldBank’spovertylineofUS$1aday，thecountrycutthenumberofthepoorbymorethan700millioninthepast40years.In2000，theUNMillenniumSummitpassedtheMDGs，settingagoaltohalvethenumberofthepoorfromthe1990figure.Chinawasthefirstcountrytoreachthegoal.By2002，ithadreducedthepercentageofthepoorinruralareasto30percent，whichwas60percentin1990.Duringtheperiod，China’scontributionratetoglobalpovertyreductionexceeded70percent.Chinahasmadefurthereffortstoreducepovertysincethe18thNationalCongressoftheCommunistPartyofChinain2012.Bytheendof2017，thepopulationofthepoorinthecountry’sruralareashaddecreasedto30.26millionfrom98.99millionattheendof2012，andthepovertyheadcountratiohaddroppedfrom10.2percentto3.1percent.

　　Rapideconomicgrowthoverdecadeshassubstantiallyincreasedincomesandconsumption，beingdecisiveinlarge-scalepovertyreduction.Thislarge-scalepovertyreductionisattributedtoacombinationofmanyfactors.Firstly，growthinagricultureisparticularlyimportantforpovertyalleviation.AccordingtoaresearchreportreleasedbytheWorldBank，growthinChina’sagriculturalsectorisfourtimesaseffectiveinreducingpovertyasgrowthinthesecondaryandtertiaryindustries.Secondly，targetedpovertyalleviationefforthashelpednarrowthegapbetweendifferentregionsandaccelerateeconomicandsocialdevelopmentofpoverty-strickenareas.Thirdly，Chinabegantoestablishasocialsecuritysystemforruralareasin2007.Measuressuchasguaranteedminimumincome，thenew-typeruralcooperativemedicalcaresystemandtheruralpensioninsurancesystemhaveensuredprovisionofbasiclivingandpublicservices.Fourthly，inclusiveruralpolicieshavebenefitedvastsectionsoftheimpoverishedinruralareas.In2003，thecountrylaunchedthe“grainforgreen”campaigninpoverty-strickenareas，andfarmerswhoreturnedtheirfarmlandtoforestsandgrasslandswerepaidwithallowances.In2006，agriculturaltaxwasabolished，andapolicytoprovidegeneralsubsidiesforagriculturaldevelopmentwasimplemented.From2008，nine-yearfreecompulsoryeducationbegantobeavailablenationwideforallchildren.Andfinally，thebasiclandsystemandlandoperationpatternensurethatthepoorbenefitfromagriculturalgrowth.Thehouseholdcontractresponsibilitysystemwasadoptedasthebasiclandsysteminruralareas，accordingtowhichrurallandsarecollectivelyowned，butfarmersenjoylong-termuseandmanagementrightsofthelandcontracted.Intheearly1980s，farmlandsweredistributedtofarmersinabasicallyequalmanner，sothatimpoverishedhouseholdscouldalsobenefitfromtheirfarmlandandagriculturaldevelopment.

　　ChallengesinPovertyReduction

　　Despitegreatprogressineconomicdevelopmentandpovertyreduction，itisundeniablethattheincomegapbetweentherichandthepoorcontinuestoexpand.China’sGinicoefficientgrewfrom0.288in1981to0.4in2017.Asreliefmeasuresacceleratedeconomicgrowthofpoverty-strickenregions，incomeinequalityinthoseregionscontinuedtoincrease.DuringtheimplementationoftheOutlineforDevelopment-orientedPovertyReductionforChina’sRuralAreas（2001-2010），theratiooftheaverageincomeofthepooresthouseholdstothatoftherichesthouseholdsinkeycountiesforpovertyalleviationdroppedfrom21.59percentin2002to17.38percentin2010.Themoreincomearuralhouseholdearns，thefasteritsnetincomegrows.From2002to2010，theper-headnetincomeoffarmerswiththelowestincomesincreasedatanannualrateof11.1percent，whilethatoffarmerswiththehighestincomesincreasedatanannualrateof14.1percent，resultinginafurtherexpansionoftheincomegap.From2002to2009，theannualincomegrowthratesforpoorruralhouseholdsandaverageruralhouseholdsinkeycountiesforpovertyalleviationwere2.75percentand11.76percent，respectively―theformeris9percentlowerthanthelatter，whilethenationalaveragestayedat11.04percent.Theratiooftheincomeofpoorhouseholdstothatoftheaveragehouseholdsnationwidecontinuedtofall―fromonethirdin2002toonefifthin2009.

　　Theincreaseinincomeinequalityisattributedtovariousreasons.First，themainstayofChina’seconomicstructurehasshiftedfromagriculturethatislabor-intensivetomanufacturingandserviceindustries，resultinginfurtherexpansionoftheincomegap.Duetothefactthatthecountryadoptsalandsystemfeaturingequaldistribution，theincomedistributioninitsagriculturalsectoriscomparativelyequal.However，incomeinequalitygrowsinthesecondaryandtertiaryindustriesthatarecapital-andtechnologyintensive.Second，thepopulationandlabormigrationbetweenruralareasandurbanareasalsocausesincomeinequality.Duetotheircomparativelylowereducationallevelandcomprehensivecapacityandtheshortageofcapitalandinformation，migrantworkersfrompovertystrickenruralareasarelesslikelytofindjobsincitiesthanthosefromcomparativelyricherruralareas.Thisfurtherwidenstheincomegap.Third，althoughdevelopment-orientedreliefefforthasgreatlyimprovedinfrastructure，production，andlivingconditionsinpoverty-strickenareas，itremainshardforpoorhouseholdstosubstantiallyincreasetheirincomesbyutilizingimprovedinfrastructureasrichhouseholdsdid.Finally，itisdifficultforthepoortoenjoyeffectivefinancialservices，whichimpedesariseintheirincomes.　　Againstthebackdropofgrowingincomeinequality，ithasbecomehardertoreducethenumberofthepoorthrougheconomicdevelopmentandregionalpovertyalleviation.Therefore，itisincreasinglyimportanttodirectlyhelpthepoorthroughmoretargetedreliefpolicies.

　　TargetedPovertyAlleviationStrategy

　　InNovember2013，ChinesePresidentXiJinpingfirstputforwardthestrategyof“targetedpovertyalleviation”duringhisvisittoXiangxiTujiaandMiaoAutonomousPrefectureinHunanProvince.Sofar，thestrategyhasremainedasignificantpartofChina’sfightagainstpoverty.

　　Thestrategyaimstoenhancetherelevanceandefficacyofreliefeffort，soastooffsetthedropintheeffectofeconomicgrowthonpovertyreduction.Thekeycontentoftargetedpovertyalleviationiseliminationofallthefactorsandobstaclesthatcausepovertythroughtargetedassistanceforthepoorandenablingtheirselfdevelopmenttowardsthegoalofsustainablepovertyreduction.Targetedpovertyalleviationincludespreciseidentification，assistance，management，andassessment.

　　AccordingtoasurveyconductedbytheNationalBureauofStatisticsofChina，thecountryhad70.17millionbelowthepovertylineattheendof2014.（Itwasestimatedthatthefigurewouldbereducedto60millioninearly2016）.Thegovernmenthastakenaseriesofmeasurestofurtherinnovateitspovertyreliefmechanism，soastofacilitatetheimplementationofitstargetedpovertyalleviationstrategyandensureeradicationofpovertyby2020.Intermsofpreciseidentification，Chinahasidentified29.48millionpoorhouseholdswithatotalpopulationof89.62millionsince2013.（Currently，thesecondroundofpooridentificationisunderway，andalthoughthefindingsareyettoberevealed，itisbelievedthattheidentifiedpoorwouldbelessinnumbers）.Moreover，thecountryhasregisteredallpoorhouseholdsandpopulationanddetailsaboutthefamilies，aswellastheiravailableresources，incomesources，andreasonsofpoverty，inthenationalpovertyalleviationinformationsystem.

　　Thegovernmenthastakenaseriesofmeasurestopushforwardtargetedpovertyalleviation.First，supportingabatchofpoorhouseholdsthroughindustrialdevelopmentandemploymentandsolvingtheirdifficultiesinrelationtotechnology，capital，andmarketing.Second，relocating10millionofthepoorinremoteareaswithharshnaturalconditionstocomparativelymorehospitablevillagesorsmalltownswithaviewtoimprovingtheenvironmentandconditionsfortheirdevelopment.Third，helpingabatchofpoorhouseholdsreducepovertythroughecologicalcompensationpoliciessuchassubsidiesforthosewhoreturnedtheirfarmlandtoforests.Fourth，helpingabatchofpoorhouseholdsreducepovertythroughstrengtheningeducation.Themeasuresincludedevelopingpreschooleducationinpovertystrickenareas，providingfreehighschooloroccupationalschooleducationandlivingallowancesforstudentsfromimpoverishedfamilies.Thiswillnotonlyreducetheeducationexpenditureofpoorhouseholds，butalsohelpendinter-generationalpoverty.Finally，helpingabatchofpoorhouseholdsthroughsocialsecuritymeasuressuchasexpandingthecoverageofminimumlivingallowances，launchingruralcooperativemedicalcaresystem，andprovidingsevere-diseasemedicalinsuranceandassistance，andpensi