Understanding China’s Fight Against Poverty

来源 :CHINA TODAY | 被引量 : 0次 | 上传用户:silent_snake
下载到本地 , 更方便阅读
声明 : 本文档内容版权归属内容提供方 , 如果您对本文有版权争议 , 可与客服联系进行内容授权或下架
论文部分内容阅读
  Understanding China: Poverty Alleviation
  Editor-in-Chief: Hu Fuguo
  Price: RMB 118
  Hardcover, 415 pages
  Published by Foreign Languages Press
  POVERTY is a common challenge and a major global issue all countries have to face in their economic and social development. Therefore, the fight against poverty is crucial for the progress of human society.
  Helping those in need, improving people’s well-being, and achieving common prosperity remain a highly valued pursuit in Chinese culture. Early in 2015, China essentially realized the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and became the first country to achieve the target set in the MDG report of halving the amount of people suffering from poverty, making a great contribution to the world’s poverty alleviation cause.
  In November 2018, at the International Forum on Reform and OpeningUp and Poverty Reduction in China held in Beijing, Jim Yong Kim, then president of the World Bank Group, hailed China’s achievement in poverty reduction as the country had lifted more than 700 million Chinese out of the distress in just four decades. China’s share in the world’s economy rose from 1.5 percent in 1978 to 15 percent, and per capita income increased more than 20 times from US $300 in 1978 to US $7,300 in 2017. China is not far from the target of eradicating extreme poverty. More and more countries are now learning from China’s experience and thus understanding that China’s reform is becoming more and more important for other nations in the world.
  Hu Fuguo, former president of the China Association of Poverty Alleviation and Development, is the editorin-chief of the book, which gives a comprehensive introduction to China’s poverty alleviation achievements.
  The book revolves around three questions. Where does China’s poverty alleviation approach come from? What are China’s poverty alleviation schemes? And where is China’s poverty alleviation heading toward? It introduces the rich contents of Xi Jinping’s thoughts on poverty alleviation, while giving a comprehensive retrospect on the history and reality of China’s fight against poverty. It also summarizes the theories and implementations of China’s battle against poverty, shows the evolution of reforms carried out by Chinese Communists led by Xi Jinping, and illustrates the country’s aspirations for and wisdom in eradicating poverty in clear language so that readers at home and abroad can get an idea of China’s stories and experiences in its fight against poverty.   There are 11 chapters in total. Proceeding from China’s historic achievements, the first three chapters review the process of poverty alleviation and development and expound Chinese theory on this issue in an attempt to trace the origin of China’s poverty alleviation initiative. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, particularly the establishment of the socialist system in China, a solid institutional foundation was laid for poverty eradication. The book reviews in a chronological order the practices of the Chinese people in the fight against poverty under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC). It presents the theories and practices of the CPC-led poverty eradication efforts in different stages, by setting 1949, 1978, and 2012 as the points of interest on the timeline, in the hope of exploring the origin of China’s poverty alleviation initiative.
  Chapter Four to Nine summarize and present China’s schemes in the battle, focusing on Xi Jinping’s thought and practices in this area. The chapters look at the new governance system for poverty reduction built under the guidance of the thought – a collective embodiment of China’s wisdom and the key to understanding the country’s efforts in this regard. The top-level design of China’s poverty eradication program fully demonstrates the national governance system which defines the responsibilities, policies, and mechanisms for inputs, organization, support, supervision, and evaluation. The system provides institutional guarantees for the scheduled resounding victory in the battle against poverty.
  The book also expounds the essentials of “targeted poverty alleviation,”revolving around the “six targeted measures” to address the “four questions.”Precision in selecting beneficiaries answers “toward whom poverty alleviation is directed.” Precision in sending the right personnel to impoverished villages answers the question of “who will carry out poverty alleviation.” Precision in project arrangement, fund utilization, and tailoring measures to individual households tackles the question of “how to eliminate poverty.” And precision in delivering outcomes of poverty alleviation answers the question of “how to end poverty elimination measures” when necessary.
  On the basis of case studies, the book demonstrates diversified means and methods employed in the fight against poverty in China in the new era, such as developing businesses with local features, supporting surplus labor forces in securing employment in urban areas, relocating residents from uninhabitable areas, combining the poverty reduction with ecological conservation, offering assistance in education and medical services, including the rural poor in a subsistence allowance system, and increasing asset-based incomes. In line with the central leadership’s decisions, local governments have implemented targeted measures in light of actual conditions and made all-out efforts to put in place the categorized measures in an orderly way, jointly drawing a vivid picture of the targeted poverty eradication campaign.   It also provides answers to two crucial questions in the usage and management of poverty alleviation funds. First, funding in various forms provides a guarantee for poverty alleviation. Second, supervision and management of poverty alleviation funds are strengthened to increase the transparency and efficiency of these funds.
  The book analyses the special circumstances of areas with deep-rooted poverty, introduces the poverty-relief policy system and practical strategies combining universality and specificity which target those areas. Then it examines how the Chinese government strengthens the endogenous dynamics of the povertystricken population from the perspective of empowerment, and summarizes the policies, aid and support mechanisms targeting certain poor groups, such as left-behind children, women, the aged, and people with disabilities in the areas suffering from extreme poverty.
  Chapter 10 shares the story of China’s interaction with the rest of the world in poverty alleviation. The great achievements of China’s efforts toward poverty alleviation and development have contributed greatly to the global fight against poverty, and provided Chinese wisdom and solutions to the world. China is even more vigorously pursuing the initiative to build a community with a shared future for mankind.
  Chapter 11 concludes the book. It looks ahead to China’s work on poverty alleviation after 2020, and proceeds to elaborate on where the poverty alleviation initiative will go.
  As Chinese President Xi Jinping said on the Global Poverty Reduction and Development Forum in 2015, China has devoted itself to eradicating poverty, actively participated in South-South Cooperation, provided assistance to other developing countries within its capability without any political conditions, and supported and helped developing countries, especially the least developed countries, to eradicate poverty. Together with the world’s countries, China is committed to building a community with a shared future for mankind, where there is no poverty, but shared prosperity, he said.
其他文献
AS the raging novel coronavirus disease(COVID-19) enveloped all of China, a myriad of cultural institutions across the country have been temporarily closed to reduce the flow of people, including muse
期刊
IN Fengdu County of southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality, a slew of private entrepreneurs have joined in the targeted poverty alleviation initiative of “enterprises helping villages.” They have no
期刊
The traditional clothes of the Tujia ethnic group boast a long history of transforming and progressing with the times. Throughout the transformation process, however, they have always held on to their
期刊
THIS year, China’s diplomacy was highlighted at three major diplomatic events in April and May– The second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, Conference of Dialogues on Asian Civilizat
期刊
“Unicorn” in China  People’s Weekly  Issue 13, 2019  In 2013, Aileen Lee, a prominent U.S. investor, borrowed the term “unicorn” to refer to start-ups valued at more than US $1 billion. Soon, the word
期刊
IN the 21st century, the interaction of global eco- nomic entities has significantly strengthened. Extensive participation in international trade and investment activities has further enhanced interde
期刊
IN China, the most underdeveloped areas have been stuck in poverty due to their geographical isolation and poor accessibility. Because local agricultural products cannot be sold to the rest of the cou
期刊
SICHUAN cuisine with its uniquely numbing spicy hot flavors has conquered the taste buds of billions of diners from home and abroad. At the heart of the cuisine is a small ingredient called the Sichua
期刊
WE live in a world undergoing disruption. Cli- mate change is heating up the planet, rising trade protectionism is threatening the international rule-based trading system, and artificial intelligence
期刊
Tu Linlin (left), a poverty relief worker in Wuxian Town, Lu’an City of Anhui Province, collects fungi together with a low-income resident she is assigned to help on September 29, 2018.  ON March 15,
期刊