Full implementation of the fight against poverty: solid progress in rural poverty alleviation and development

The "Recommendations of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Formulating the Thirteenth Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development" points out that lifting the rural poor out of poverty is the most arduous task in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and we must fully leverage our political and institutional advantages to resolutely win the fight against poverty. In this regard, we must gain a deep understanding, implement it conscientiously, adopt effective policies and measures, and work hard to put them into practice.

I. Fully affirm the remarkable achievements in poverty alleviation and development, and clearly recognize the prominent problems we face

Over more than 30 years of reform and opening up, China has blazed a path of poverty reduction with Chinese characteristics. Under the leadership of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, we have successively implemented the "National Seven-Year Poverty Alleviation Plan (1994-2000)," the "China Rural Poverty Alleviation and Development Outline (2001-2010)," and the "China Rural Poverty Alleviation and Development Outline (2011-2020)," steadily deepening poverty alleviation and development work. At the same time, we must also soberly recognize that the task of eradicating poverty remains arduous.

(1) New progress was made in poverty alleviation and development over the past five years

1. The rural poor population decreased significantly. By the end of 2014, the national rural poor population stood at 70.17 million, a decrease of 52.21 million from the end of 2011, with an average annual reduction of 17.4 million; the poverty incidence rate was 7.2%, down 5.5 percentage points from 2011, with an average annual decline of 1.8 percentage points. Since the late 1970s, China has lifted more than 700 million people out of poverty cumulatively. The proportion of China's rural poor population fell from more than 60% in 1990 to below 30% in 2002, and to 4.2% in 2014. China has become the first developing country in the world to achieve the poverty reduction target of the UN Millennium Development Goals, contributing more than 70% to global poverty reduction. Since the beginning of this year, poverty reduction efforts have been noticeably intensified across all regions. The task proposed in the "Government Work Report" at the beginning of the year, to reduce the rural poor population by more than 10 million, is expected to be completed.

2. Infrastructure and public services in impoverished areas have been continuously improved. From 2011 to 2014, 1,241,200 km of new rural roads were built in the national contiguous poverty-stricken areas; 78.52 million rural residents in impoverished areas gained access to safe drinking water, and 3.54 million people without electricity gained access to power; and dilapidated houses of 15.654 million rural poor households were renovated. By the end of 2014, 93.5% of townships and 70.8% of administrative villages had access to smooth transportation, and 100% of administrative villages and more than 90% of natural villages had telephone access. The rural compulsory education student nutrition improvement plan and the policy of tuition-free secondary vocational education were fully covered in contiguous poverty-stricken areas. The participation rate in the new rural cooperative medical scheme in impoverished areas reached over 98%, and rural subsistence allowances and basic old-age insurance achieved full coverage. The number of targeted admissions to key universities for impoverished areas increased from 10,000 in 2012 to 50,000 in 2014.

3. Economic development and farmers' income growth in impoverished areas accelerated. From 2011 to 2014, the combined GDP of the six provinces and autonomous regions with the largest poor populations - Guizhou, Yunnan, Sichuan, Hunan, Guangxi, and Henan - grew by 62.8%, 55.7%, 54.5%, 51.4%, 49.4%, and 46.2% respectively, significantly higher than the national GDP growth of 36.3%. In 2014, the per capita net income of rural residents in impoverished areas was 6,610 yuan, reaching 65.3% of the national average for rural residents, an increase of 8.2 percentage points over 2011, marking the third consecutive year that income growth for farmers in impoverished areas exceeded the national average. In the first three quarters of 2015, the growth rate of per capita net income of farmers in impoverished areas continued to exceed the national average.

4. New breakthroughs were made in innovating poverty alleviation and development mechanisms. The central government put forward the approach of targeted poverty alleviation, ascertained the baseline numbers of poor villages and poor households nationwide, and the General Offices of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued the "Opinions on Innovating Mechanisms to Solidly Advance Rural Poverty Alleviation and Development." We explored and established assessment and restraint mechanisms for impoverished counties, improved the organization and mobilization mechanism for social poverty alleviation, and refined the input mechanism. Provincial-level fiscal poverty alleviation budget inputs across all regions increased from 23.628 billion yuan in 2014 to 28.412 billion yuan in 2015, a growth of 20.25%; the central government arranged 46.745 billion yuan in special poverty alleviation funds in 2015, a year-on-year increase of 8%.

(2) Poverty alleviation and development remains the most prominent weak link in economic and social development

1. The scale of the poor population remains relatively large. The poor populations in Guizhou, Yunnan, Henan, Guangxi, Hunan, and Sichuan all exceed 5 million, with Guizhou reaching 6.23 million; the poverty incidence rates in Tibet, Gansu, Xinjiang, Guizhou, and Yunnan exceed 15%, with Tibet reaching 23.7%; the average poverty incidence rate in national key counties and area counties reaches 22.1%.

2. Poverty alleviation and development is becoming increasingly difficult. After more than 30 years of continuous poverty alleviation and development, what remains unsolved are all "hard bones" that are difficult to crack. Some poor people are either disabled or ill, with weak labor capacity. Some poor families are utterly destitute, lacking labor, tools, and basic living and production conditions such as safe housing and clean water. Some poor people live in deep mountain areas, rocky mountain areas, high-cold mountain areas, desertified areas, and desertification areas, where poverty alleviation is difficult to achieve results. From 2011 to 2014, China's poverty reduction rates were 26.1%, 19.1%, 16.7%, and 14.9% respectively, showing a declining trend year by year.

3. Poverty alleviation and development efforts urgently need to be intensified. There are still prominent contradictions of inadequate understanding of poverty alleviation and ineffective measures. Some impoverished areas in central and western China have not yet made poverty alleviation their main task. Some departments, units, and eastern regions have not yet placed poverty alleviation and relief in their proper position. The total amount of poverty alleviation input remains insufficient, the channels are relatively scattered, and the overall efficiency is not high; the inclusive financial service mechanism for the poor population is not yet sound.

II. Further clarify the overall requirements for poverty alleviation and development during the "13th Five-Year Plan" period

Poverty alleviation and development bears on building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, on consolidating the Party's governing foundation, on the long-term stability and security of the country, and on steady and relatively rapid economic development. Ensuring that the rural poor population is lifted out of poverty by 2020 is a solemn promise our Party has made to the people, a tough battle that must be won, and we must raise our ideological understanding, establish guiding thoughts, and determine overall goals.

(1) Clarify the guiding thoughts for poverty alleviation and development at present and in the coming years

The Party Central Committee and the State Council attach great importance to poverty alleviation and development. Since the 18th National Congress of the Party, General Secretary Xi Jinping has made important speeches on poverty alleviation work on more than 20 occasions, conducted research and inspections in impoverished areas more than 10 times, and convened several special symposiums on poverty alleviation and development, issuing a mobilization order to lift the rural poor out of poverty on schedule by 2020. Premier Li Keqiang has also made important instructions on poverty alleviation and development on multiple occasions, conducted in-depth research and inspections in impoverished areas many times, and for two consecutive years listed reducing the poor population by more than 10 million as an annual government work target. We must comprehensively implement the spirit of the 18th National Congress of the Party, guided by Deng Xiaoping Theory, the important thought of "Three Represents," and the Scientific Outlook on Development, thoroughly implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's series of important speeches, focus on the "Four Comprehensives" strategic layout, promote shared development, fully leverage political and institutional advantages, take targeted poverty alleviation and targeted poverty eradication as the basic strategy, adhere to the close integration of targeted assistance with regional development, place equal emphasis on poverty alleviation and development and ecological protection, and effectively link poverty alleviation and development with social security, adopt extraordinary measures, come up with solid methods, pool forces from all sides, and overcome the difficulties of poverty eradication.

(2) Clarify the overall goals of implementing the poverty eradication project

At present, the country has 14 contiguous special hardship areas, 592 national key counties for poverty alleviation and development, 128,000 poor villages, 29.485 million poor households, and 70.17 million poor people, and we must prescribe the right medicine and apply targeted treatment. By 2020, while the economy continues to develop in a healthy way, we must lift the rural poor population below China's current standard (calculated at 2010 constant prices, per capita net income of farmers of 2,300 yuan) out of poverty, remove all impoverished counties from the poverty list, and resolve regional overall poverty. We must steadily ensure that the rural poor do not worry about food or clothing, and have guaranteed access to compulsory education, basic medical care, and safe housing, and achieve a growth rate of per capita disposable income of farmers in impoverished areas higher than the national average, with indicators in major areas of basic public services approaching the national average.

III. Implement the main tasks and policy measures for poverty alleviation and development through 2020

During the "13th Five-Year Plan" period, China's poverty alleviation and development work has entered a sprint phase of cracking hard bones and storming fortifications. Time is pressing and tasks are heavy, and we must go all out to ensure completion.

(1) Implement targeted poverty alleviation and targeted poverty eradication

China's regional development is very uneven, and the poor population is distributed across more than 20 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities). Poverty alleviation and eradication must be tailored to different people and places: for those with labor capacity, support the development of specialty industries and transfer employment; for those in areas where "the local land and water cannot support the local people," implement poverty alleviation relocation; for areas of particularly important and fragile ecology, implement ecological protection poverty alleviation; for those who have lost labor capacity, implement bottom-line guarantee policies; for those impoverished by illness, provide medical assistance and guarantees, and improve the effectiveness of poverty alleviation.

1. Develop specialty industries to eradicate poverty. Support impoverished areas in scientifically formulating specialty industry development plans, encourage poor villages and poor households to develop specialty agricultural products and their processing industries, deeply implement the rural tourism poverty alleviation project, and rationally and orderly develop advantageous energy and mineral resources. To enhance self-development capacity, for counties in contiguous special hardship areas, implement the policy of full return of central, provincial, and municipal fiscal revenues to county-level finances; for national key counties for poverty alleviation and development outside the areas, implement the policy of full return of central fiscal revenues to county-level finances.

2. Guide labor export to eradicate poverty. Increase investment in labor export training, continue to implement the vocational skills upgrading plan, establish and improve the labor docking mechanism between sending and receiving areas, and guide the rural poor to enter employment in domestic services, logistics, elderly care, and other fields. Give policy support to migrant workers from impoverished areas who return home to start businesses. Those capable of stable employment and life in cities and towns should realize urbanization in an orderly manner.

3. Implement relocation poverty alleviation. Formulate and implement relocation poverty alleviation plans; for poor people living in areas with harsh living conditions, fragile ecological environments, and frequent natural disasters, adhere to the principles of voluntary participation and active yet prudent action, and carry out relocation and resettlement according to local conditions. Preliminary statistics show that during the "13th Five-Year Plan" period, about 10 million poor people need to be relocated. We must increase central budgetary investment and input from local governments at all levels, innovate investment and financing methods, raise 600 billion yuan through multiple channels, and promote the ability to move out, stay stable, have work to do, and become prosperous.

4. Implement bottom-line social security policies. Implement the health poverty alleviation project and improve the level of basic medical care and public health services in impoverished areas. Combine the new rural cooperative medical scheme's critical illness insurance payment with medical assistance, and so on, so that those suffering from major illnesses receive bottom-line guarantees. Increase health services for the poor disabled. Effectively link the subsistence allowance policy with the poverty alleviation policy, ensuring that all poor people who qualify are covered.

(2) Expand infrastructure coverage in impoverished areas

China's impoverished areas are mostly located in the central and western regions, mountainous areas, and border areas, with complex natural conditions and weak infrastructure. We must further strengthen construction and solve problems of access to roads, water, electricity, and networks according to local conditions.

1. Accelerate the construction of transportation, water conservancy, electric power, and internet in impoverished areas. Major transportation projects such as the national railway network and national expressway network connecting impoverished areas must be accelerated. Major water conservancy projects and small and medium-sized water conservancy projects in impoverished areas must be strengthened. Hydropower development, farmland upgrading, and photovoltaic power generation projects in impoverished areas must be vigorously advanced. Increase the intensity of "Internet Plus poverty alleviation," accelerate full broadband network coverage in poor villages, implement e-commerce poverty alleviation projects, and promote mass entrepreneurship and innovation in impoverished areas.

2. Strengthen ecological protection, rural dilapidated house renovation, and human settlement environment improvement in impoverished areas. Major national ecological projects such as returning farmland to forest and grassland, returning grazing land to grassland, natural forest protection, shelterbelt construction, rocky desertification control, and desertification prevention and control should further tilt toward impoverished areas. Increase efforts in rural dilapidated house renovation and seismic retrofitting of rural houses. Promote domestic waste treatment, sewage treatment, household toilet renovation, and village greening in poor villages, advance comprehensive rural environmental improvement, and support the construction of mountains, water, farmland, forests, and roads as well as comprehensive small watershed management.

3. Explore asset-income poverty alleviation. Explore the implementation of an asset-income support system for the poor population. For the occupation of collective land in hydropower and mineral resource development in impoverished areas, trial compensation in the form of collective equity for original residents. For assets formed by the input of fiscal poverty alleviation funds and other agriculture-related funds into certain projects, consider converting them into shares and quantifying them to poor households.

(3) Promote the equalization of basic public services in impoverished areas

The gap between impoverished areas and more developed areas is largely manifested in basic public services such as education, health, culture, and social security, and we must focus on narrowing it.

1. Improve the quality of basic education in impoverished areas. "Poverty alleviation requires helping the mind." We must implement a full-coverage education poverty alleviation project, so that children from poor families can all receive a fair and quality education, and block the intergenerational transmission of poverty. National education funds should continue to tilt toward impoverished areas and basic education, and the "Special Post Plan" and "National Training Plan" should tilt toward impoverished areas. Take the lead in implementing tuition-free ordinary senior high school in impoverished areas, and establish a long-term mechanism to ensure rural students can attend key universities.

2. Establish and improve a care system for left-behind children, women, the elderly, and the disabled. Conduct a comprehensive survey of the rural "three left-behind" groups and the disabled, and establish an information management and service system. Strengthen guardianship of minors and welfare guarantees for children in difficult circumstances, and help special poor families solve practical difficulties. Accelerate the establishment and improvement of the living allowance system for disabled people in difficulties and the nursing subsidy system for severely disabled people.

3. Enrich the cultural life of the poor. Implement in a concentrated manner a batch of cultural benefit poverty alleviation projects, with emphasis on radio and television service networks, digital cultural services, local talent training, and mobile cultural services. Support impoverished areas in excavating, protecting, developing, and utilizing ethnic and folk cultural heritage and resources. Funds for cultural undertakings should tilt toward impoverished areas.

(4) Implement a responsibility system for poverty eradication work

The key to implementing the main tasks and policy measures for poverty alleviation and development lies in fulfilling responsibilities.

1. Further improve the working mechanism of central coordination, provincial (autonomous region, municipality directly under the Central Government) overall responsibility, and city (prefecture) and county implementation. Strengthen the assessment of responsibility for poverty eradication work. For the nine provinces and autonomous regions with a poor population of more than 5 million or a poverty incidence rate of more than 15%, truly make poverty alleviation and development a "top leader" project. For impoverished counties, focus assessment on poverty eradication results, and implement a "one-vote veto" for poverty alleviation work. At the same time, strengthen supervision and accountability; for those who fail to complete annual poverty alleviation tasks, conduct talks with leading cadres. Strengthen the building of Party branches in poor villages.

2. Strengthen guarantees for poverty alleviation and development input. Increase central and provincial fiscal poverty alleviation input; the central government should continue to increase transfer payments to impoverished areas; the scale of central special poverty alleviation funds should maintain relatively large annual growth; general transfer payment funds, special transfer payment funds related to people's livelihood, and central budgetary investment should further tilt toward impoverished areas and the poor population. For public welfare construction projects arranged by the state in impoverished areas, cancel counterpart funds at the prefecture and city levels for counties and below as well as contiguous special hardship areas in the western region. Integrate various poverty alleviation resources and open up new funding channels for poverty alleviation and development. Encourage various financial institutions - development-oriented, policy-based, commercial, and cooperative - to increase financial support for poverty alleviation and development and play complementary roles. Issue policy-based financial bonds and provide preferential policies such as fiscal interest subsidies. Implement the poverty alleviation microcredit project. Guarantee land for poverty alleviation and development. Increase the intensity of science and technology poverty alleviation. For personnel engaged in entrepreneurship, innovation, and services in impoverished areas, give special policies in terms of salary and benefits, civil servant recruitment, rank adjustment, and professional title evaluation and appointment.

3. Improve the mechanism for East-West collaboration and for designated poverty alleviation by Party and government organs, the military, people's organizations, and state-owned enterprises. Eastern regions should increase fiscal input for paired assistance, and launch the "Hand in Hand Toward Moderate Prosperity" action pairing strong eastern counties with impoverished counties. Strengthen and improve designated poverty alleviation work by Party, government, military, and mass organization departments and units. Deeply advance the "Hundred Counties, Ten Thousand Villages" activity in which central enterprises provide designated assistance to impoverished old revolutionary base areas. Encourage all kinds of enterprises, social organizations, and individuals to voluntarily participate in poverty alleviation through contracting, and implement the pre-tax deduction policy for enterprise and individual poverty alleviation donations. Expand international cooperation on poverty alleviation. Make old revolutionary base areas, ethnic minority areas, border areas, and contiguous poverty-stricken areas the focus of poverty eradication.

(The author is Vice Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission)