InOctober2017,atthe19thCPCNationalCongress,XidrewakeyconclusionthatChinahadmadedecisiveprogressinitsfightagainstpoverty,andalsostressedthatpovertyalleviationshouldbeclearlyaimed,andeffective.InFebruary2018,onaninvestigationtour,XiwenttoLiangshanYiAutonomousPrefectureofSichuanProvince,whichhadlongbeentrappedindirepoverty.Shortlyafterwards,hechairedaseminarinChengduontargetedpovertyalleviation,mappingoutaplanforthenextthreeyears,requiringpovertyreductiontobetargeted,focused,rule-abiding,andsubjecttostrictsupervision.Astoareasandpeopleindesperateneed,Xisaidnotasinglevillageorcitizeninextremepovertyshouldbeleftbehind.Growersdrydendrobium(ahugegenusoforchids)flowersataplantingbaseinXinqiVillageofZhijinCounty,GuizhouProvinceonJune12,2018.Xi’stalksandinstructionsonpovertyalleviationserveasanimportantpartoftheXiJinpingthoughtonpovertyrelief.Theyworkasguidancetothosewhohelpcombatruralpovertyonthefrontlines.
InJune2018,theCPCCentralCommitteeandtheStateCouncilissuedinstructionsonhowtowipeoutpovertyinthenextthreeyears.Itaimstoforgetop-leveldesignofpovertyreliefwithdetailedpolicymeasures,while,beingcognizantthatthekeyalwaysliesinimplementation,whichcanbesummarizedas“fouradherences,”“threetransformations”and“twosystems.”
FourAdherencesIsaPrerequisite
First,currentgoalsandcriteriashouldbeadheredto.Chinasetthegoalofliftingallpoorpeopleoutofpovertyby2020byensuringthemaccesstoadequatefoodandclothing,compulsoryeducation,andhousing.Thisisformulatedinaccordancewithnationalconditions.
Second,targetedmeasuresinpovertyalleviationshouldbetaken.XiJinpingcalledforrelevantpoliciesandprogramstobetailoredfortheneedsofindividualfamiliesinconjunctionwithtargetedfundingandexpertsupport,andtobepursuedwitharesult-orientedeffort.Inlightofthis,variousmeasureshavebeendrawnuptohelptheruralpoor,includingdevelopinglocalproductionandeducation,relocatingvillagerslivingingeologicallyhazardousareas,establishingamechanismforecologicalcompensation,andguaranteeingabasiclivingstandardforpeopleunabletowork.Theyareinlinewithlocalconditionsandcouldhelpthoseinneedinaworkableway.
Third,amechanism,inwhichthecentralgovernmentleads,headsofthePartycommitteesandgovernmentsateachlevelassumetheoverallresponsibility,andcitiesaswellascountiesimplementworkablemeasures,needstobeadheredto.Eachone’sresponsibilitiesshouldbeclearlydefined,andtheiractionsneedtobedecisiveandeffective.
Fourth,thestrengthsofallsectorsofsocietyshouldbepooledtogether.CollaborationonpovertyreductionbetweenChina’swesternandeasternregionsshouldbestrengthened;fixedpointpovertyalleviationshouldbecarriedoutbygovernmentinstitutions;peoplefromdifferentsectorsofsocietyincludingthegovernmentandthemarketshouldbemobilizedtoworktogetherforthismission.Besides,specializedpovertyreductionfundsindifferentindustriesneedtobeestablished.
ThreeTransformationsAreKeyActions
First,regionsaffectedbyextremepovertyshouldbethetoppriority.Thegovernmentwillprovidefocusedassistance,suchasmorefavorablepolicies,toareasofextremepoverty.
Second,theresultsofpovertyalleviationefforts,especiallyinthelongrun,shouldholdahighpriority.Therefore,it’simportanttohelpestablishasolidfoundationforthepoortograduallyshakeoffpovertyandnottoreturntopovertyagain.Inthisway,effortsshouldstandthetestamentoftimeandpractice.LiuYongfu,directoroftheStateCouncilLeadingGroupOfficeofPovertyAlleviationandDevelopment,answerspovertyalleviation-relatedquestionsatthepressconferenceofthefirstsessionofthe13thNationalPeople’sCongressonMarch7,2018.Third,thesocialsecuritysystemneedstobeimprovedtohelpthepoor.Formerattentionwasondevelopinglocalnaturalresourcesandindustriesasthemainwaytowardspovertyrelief.Nowanimprovedsocialsecuritysystemtargetingpoorpeopleindifferentconditionshasbeenaddedontopofthat.Thecombinationisexpectedtohelpmakethepovertyreductionmoreeffective.
TwoSystems:GuaranteesforAchievingtheGoal
Firstisanimprovedsystemtoimplementtargetedpovertyreliefmeasures.Filesofeveryimpoverishedhouseholdneedtobekeptasawaytomakesurethatallthosewhoqualifyareinandthosewhodon’t,areout.Besides,datasharingandanalysisareimportantastheyareaprerequisiteformacroscopicdecisionmaking.
Astostationedgovernmentofficialsandworkingteamsinthevillage,strictcriteriashouldbefollowedintheselection,especiallyforthestationedPartycommitteeleaders.Governmentofficialsselectionandmanagement,thecorrectionoftheirworkingstyle,andinsufficientsupportneedtobeaddressedbeforetheycanfullyleveragetheirstrengthsasexpected.
Whenitcomestotheimplementationoftargetedpovertyalleviationmeasures,theaforementionedtargetedanddifferentiatedmeasuresshouldbesetasthecore.Forexample,developingcompetitiveindustriestocreatejobscanhelpmobilizepoorvillagerstotraintheirownskills,whichisfarbetterthanseeingthemwaitpassivelyfortheallocationoffundsandmaterials.
Besides,strictstandardsandproceduresneedtobeappliedtoassesswhetherpeopleareliftedoutofpovertyornot.Forallthecounties,villages,andpopulationsthatarejustbroughtabovethepovertyline,thepovertyalleviationeffortswillnotcometoahalttoensurethatthesuccessachievedissustained.
Secondisanimprovedassessmentandsupervisionsystem.From2018on,forcountieswhichannouncedtheirwithdrawalfromthecountry’slistofimpoverishedcounties,assessmentwillbemanagedbyeachprovinceandrandominspectionswillbemadebyinspectorsfromthecentralgovernment.Asforthethird-partyassessment,proceduresneedtobesimplifiedtohighlightresults.Besides,thePartyandgovernmentleaderswhodoapoorjobwillbeheldaccountableandregulartalksfromsupervisorswillbearranged.Totheproblemsfoundoutduringassessmentandsupervision,theirrootcauseswillbeanalyzedtofacilitatetheestablishmentofalong-termmechanism.
Equallyimportantistohelpthepoorwithpolicysupportandoccupationaltrainings.Meanwhile,thepreventionofrisksderivedfromunaccomplishedmissions,debts,social-economicproblemsarealsohighontheagenda.Ifthesestepsaretaken,theremainderofthepopulationcanalsoberescuedfromtheclutchesofpovertyandcanlookforwardtobetterlives.CHUANGCHENGWEIisdirectorofthenationalpublicityandeducationcenterforpovertyalleviationundertheStateCouncilLeadingGroupOfficeofPovertyAlleviationandDevelopment.
XidrewakeyconclusionthatChinahadmadedecisiveprogressinitsfightagainstpoverty,andalsostressedthatpovertyalleviationshouldbeclearlyaimed,andeffective.
Strictstandardsandproceduresneedtobeappliedtoassesswhetherpeopleareliftedoutofpovertyornot.