The State Council Information Office issued today a white paper on
the country's development-oriented poverty reduction program for
rural China. Between 1978 and 2000, the number of poverty-stricken
rural people without food or clothes decreased from 250 million to
30 million, and the proportion of poverty-stricken people in the
total rural population dropped from 30.7 percent to about three
percent. The following is the full text of the white paper.
The Development-oriented Poverty Reduction Program for Rural
China
China is the largest developing country in the world, its
population making up about 22 percent of the earth's total. For
quite a long time in the past, China was bedeviled by poverty, for
various reasons.
Since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, and
especially since the end of the 1970s, when China introduced the
policy of reform and opening to the outside world, the Chinese
government, while devoting considerable efforts to all-round
economic and social development, has implemented nationwide a
large-scale program for development-oriented poverty relief in a
planned and organized way. With the main objective of helping
poverty-stricken people to solve the problem of food and clothing,
this program has gone a long way toward alleviating poverty.
Between 1978 and 2000, the number of poverty-stricken people
without enough to eat and wear in the rural areas decreased from
250 million to 30 million, and the proportion of poverty-stricken
people in the total rural population dropped from 30.7 percent to
about three percent. The strategic objective set by the Chinese
government for enabling all poverty-stricken people in rural areas
to have enough to eat and wear by the end of the 20th century has
basically been realized.
The following is an introduction to China's development-oriented
poverty relief for the rural areas:
I.
The Course and Achievements of the Aid-the-Poor
Program
II. Policy Guarantee for the Aid-the-Poor
Program
III. Major Contents and Channels of the Aid-the-Poor
Program
IV. The Aid-the-Poor Program for the Special Groups
Among the Impoverished
V.
The Aid-the-Rural-Poor Program in the Early Period of
the 21st Century
I. The Course and Achievements of the
Aid-the-Poor Program
Since the founding of New China, the Chinese government has spared
no effort to develop production and eliminate poverty. However, in
the strict sense, the help-the-poor program was put forward and
implemented on a large scale only after the initiation of the
reform and opening-up. From 1978 to 2000, this program largely
underwent the following three stages:
The First Stage: Structural Reform Promotes Poverty Relief
(1978-1985)
In
1978, the poverty-stricken population numbered 250 million, making
up 30.7 percent of the total rural population, according to the
poverty standard designated by the Chinese government. There were
many causes giving rise to such a large number of poverty-stricken
people, of which the main one was that the operation system in
agriculture did not suit the needs of the development of the
productive forces, so that peasants lacked the enthusiasm for
production. In this way, reform of the system became the main way
to alleviate poverty.
The reform that China started in 1978 was, first and foremost, a
reform of the land management system, i.e., replacing the
collective management system of the people's commune with the
household contract responsibility system. This change of the land
system kindled the peasants' real enthusiasm for labor, thus
greatly liberating the productive forces and improving the land
output. Meanwhile, many other reforms, such as gradually relaxing
control over the prices of agricultural products and devoting major
efforts to developing township enterprises, opened new ways for
solving the problem of poverty in the rural areas. These reforms
accelerated the development of the national economy, and conveyed
benefits on the poverty-stricken people in three ways-raising the
prices of agricultural products, transforming the agricultural
production structure and orienting it toward higher added value,
and employing rural laborers in non-agricultural sectors, thus
enabling impoverished people to shake off poverty and become
well-off and greatly alleviating poverty in the rural areas.
According to statistics, from 1978 to 1985 grain output per capita
increased by 14 percent in the countryside, cotton by 73.9 percent,
oil-bearing crops by 176.4 percent, and meat by 87.8 percent; the
net income per peasant grew by 3.6 times; the number of
poverty-stricken people with problems feeding and clothing
themselves decreased from 250 million to 125 million, to shrink to
14.8 percent of the total population in the rural areas; and the
number of poverty-stricken people went down by 17.86 million
annually on average.
The Second Stage: Large-scale Development-oriented Poverty
Relief Drive (1986-1993)
In
the mid-1980s, the economy of the overwhelming majority of the
rural areas in China, stimulated by the policy of reform and
opening-up and relying on their own advantages, grew by leaps and
bounds, but a small number of areas still lagged behind somewhat
because of economic, social, historical, natural and geographical
conditions. The disparity-economic, social and cultural-between the
poverty-stricken areas and other areas, especially that between the
poverty-stricken areas and the coastal advanced areas in the east,
gradually widened. The uneven development in the Chinese
countryside became marked. Quite a number of low-income people
could not meet their basic needs for subsistence.
To
further strengthen poverty relief, the Chinese government has
adopted a series of important measures since 1986, such as setting
up special help-the-poor work units, allocating special funds,
formulating special favorable policies, thoroughly reforming the
traditional relief-type approach, and putting forward the
development-oriented poverty reduction policy. Since then, the
Chinese government has set in motion a nationwide
development-oriented poverty reduction drive in a big and planned
way, and China's help-the-poor work has entered a new historical
period. Thanks to the efforts made over the past eight years, the
net income per peasant in the poverty-stricken counties to which
the Chinese government had attached special importance increased
from 206 yuan in 1986 to 483.7 yuan in 1993; the number of the
rural poor dropped from 125 million to 80 million, with an annual
decrease of 6.4 million on average, and an average annual decrease
rate of 6.2 percent; and the proportion of poverty-stricken people
in the total rural population went down from 14.8 percent to 8.7
percent.
The Third Stage: Tackling Key Problems of Poverty Relief
(1994-2000)
Along with the deepening of the rural reform and the constant
strengthening of development-oriented poverty relief, the number of
the poverty-stricken people has shrunk year by year; great changes
have taken place in the features of poverty; and the distribution
of the poverty-stricken population shows obvious geographical
characteristics, i.e. most poverty-stricken people live in central
and western China, in the barren rocky mountain area of southwest
China, the arid Loess Plateau in northwest China and the
impoverished Qinling and Daba mountain areas (which suffer from
rugged terrain, a shortage of arable land, poor transportation
conditions and serious soil erosion), and the frigid Qinghai-Tibet
Plateau. The main factors behind poverty are adverse natural
conditions, weak infrastructure and backward social
development.
Marked by the promulgation and implementation of the Seven-Year
Priority Poverty Alleviation Program (a program designed to lift 80
million people out of absolute poverty in the period of seven years
from 1994 to 2000) in March 1994, China's development-oriented
poverty-relief work entered the stage of tackling the key problems.
The Seven-Year Priority Poverty Alleviation Program clearly
stipulated that China should concentrate human, material and
financial resources, mobilize the forces of all walks of life in
society and work hard to basically solve the problem of food and
clothing of the rural needy by the end of 2000. It was the first
action program for development-oriented poverty reduction with
clear and definite objectives, targets, measures and a time
limit.
For three years running (1997-1999), China solved the problem of
food and clothing for eight million people a year-a record high in
the 1990s. By the end of 2000, the basic objectives of the
Seven-Year Priority Poverty Alleviation Program had been realized
by and large.
Thanks to the arduous and unremitting efforts in the past more than
two decades, China has made tremendous achievements in its drive to
assist with the development of the poor areas.
-
The problem of food and clothing for more than 200 million rural
poor has been solved. The number of poverty-stricken people in
rural areas with problems obtaining sufficient food and clothing
decreased from 250 million in 1978 to 30 million in 2000; and the
impoverishment rate there decreased from 30.7 percent to about
three percent. Of this, the number of poverty-stricken people in
the impoverished counties to which the Chinese government gave
priority in its poverty alleviation efforts decreased from 58.58
million in 1994 to 17.1 million in 2000, involving mainly the
destitute people living in areas with adverse natural conditions, a
small number of people receiving social security assistance and
some handicapped people.
-
Production and living conditions have remarkably improved. During
the 15 years from 1986 to 2000, 99.15 million mu (one mu = 1/15 ha)
of basic farmland was constructed in poverty-stricken rural areas,
and the problem of drinking water for more than 77.25 million
people and more than 83.98 million draught animals were solved. By
the end of 2000, 95.5 percent of the administrative villages in the
poverty-stricken areas had electricity, 89 percent were accessible
by road, 69 percent had postal service, and 67.7 percent could be
reached by telephone.
-
Economic development has been speeded up remarkably. During the
implementation of the Seven-Year Priority Poverty Alleviation
Program, the agricultural added value of the poverty-stricken
counties to which the Chinese government gave priority in poverty
alleviation went up by 54 percent, with an average annual growth
rate of 7.5 percent; their industrial added value grew by 99.3
percent, with an average annual growth rate of 12.2 percent; their
local financial revenue almost doubled, with an average annual
growth rate of 12.9 percent; grain output rose by 12.3 percent,
with an average annual growth rate of 1.9 percent; and the net
income per peasant increased from 648 yuan to 1,337 yuan, with an
average annual growth rate of 12.8 percent.
-
Social undertakings have developed quickly. The hitherto-rapid
population growth in the poverty-stricken areas has been on the
whole put under control, and the population's natural growth rate
has decreased. The conditions for running schools have improved,
and remarkable progress has been made in the work for basically
popularizing nine-year compulsory education and that for basically
eliminating illiteracy among the young and middle-aged. Of the 592
poverty-stricken counties to which the state gives priority in
poverty relief, 318 have attained the aforementioned two
objectives. Both vocational and adult education has progressed at
seven-league strides, thus effectively improving the quality of
workers. The town and township hospitals in most of the poor areas
have been revamped or rebuilt. As a result, the shortage of doctors
and medicines has been alleviated. A large number of practical
agrotechniques have been popularized, and the level of scientific
farming has improved remarkably. Ninety-five percent of
administrative villages in poor areas can receive radio and TV
programs; the cultural life of the people in these areas has
improved; and their mental outlook has changed tremendously.
-
Some poverty-stricken areas which lie in vast, contiguous stretches
have solved the problem of food and clothing as have the Yimeng,
Jinggang and Dabie mountain areas, southwest Fujian and other old
revolutionary base areas. Great changes have taken place in some
remote mountain areas and areas inhabited by ethnic minority
people. Dingxi Prefecture in Gansu Province and Xihaigu Prefecture
in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, once known as the "poorest
places on earth," have vastly improved their infrastructure
facilities and basic production conditions after many years of
effort, and their poverty-stricken state has been greatly
alleviated.
II. Policy Guarantee for the Aid-the-Poor
Program
The poverty of China's rural areas is a problem that arose over
long years in the past. Impoverished regions in China are
characterized mainly by a large area and population sunk in
poverty. Based on its understanding of the basic national
conditions, especially the reality of the poverty-stricken areas
and people, the Chinese government has formulated a policy for
development-oriented poverty alleviation that conforms to the
reality in China. It sets mainly solving the problem of food and
clothing of the rural poor as its basic objective and central task
in this regard, starting from the most urgent problems, acting
according to its capability, giving priority to key areas, and
advancing step by step.
Defining the Standard of Poverty in Conformity with the National
Conditions
China is a developing country with a large population, a meager
heritage and an underdeveloped economy, especially in the rural
areas. In terms of the poverty-stricken areas in China, the
underdevelopment is mainly reflected in the following: First, weak
infrastructure. In the western region, where most of these areas
are located, although the territory is over two-thirds of the
nation's total, the proportions of railways, highways and civil
aviation facilities are relatively low. Second, a rapidly growing
population, and the low level of education, public health and other
basic social services. In contrast to the backward economy, the
poverty-stricken areas are usually noted for their rapidly growing
populations. Due to the poor conditions for running schools and
backward education facilities, a great number of school-age
children are unable to go to school or obliged to discontinue their
studies, and the illiteracy rate of the young and middle-aged is
high. These areas are also characterized by a very low level of
health care work. Third, poor agricultural production conditions,
low revenue, and seriously inadequate public input. In 1986, the
per-capita motive power of agricultural machinery in the counties
on the state's priority poverty relief list accounted for only 50
percent of the national average. In 1993, the per-capita revenue in
these counties was 60 yuan, only about 30 percent of the national
average.
In
accordance with the above-mentioned actual conditions, it is
necessary to fix a realistic standard of poverty for China's
help-the-poor work. The earliest standard was calculated by the
relevant government departments in 1986, on the basis of the
investigations of the consumption expenditures of 67,000 rural
households, i.e., the standard of 206 yuan in per-capita net income
in rural areas in 1985. It was equivalent to 300 yuan in 1990 and
625 yuan in 2000.
China's standard of poverty is the standard of the lowest expense
to maintain one's basic subsistence. It can guarantee the basic
living needs of the rural poor in China and, therefore, is an
objective standard and also one that conforms to the reality in
China.
Defining the Key Poverty-stricken Counties to Be Aided by the
State
To
use poverty relief funds in a unified way, and effectively aid the
poor and needy, the Chinese government has formulated the standard
of the key poverty-stricken counties to be aided by the state, and
identified a number of such counties.
The Chinese government defined the standard of the key
poverty-stricken counties to be aided for the first time in 1986:
the counties with a net yearly income of less than 150 yuan per
peasant in 1985. Subsequently, the standard had been readjusted in
keeping with the economic development, especially the constant
improvement of the economic conditions of the poverty-stricken
areas. The readjusted standard in 1994 was less than 400 yuan in
per-capita net income in 1992. So all those counties originally on
the priority list where the per-capita net income had exceeded 700
yuan in 1992 were taken off the list. (According to a typical
calculation at the time, the problem of food and clothing of over
90 percent of the poverty-stricken people in the counties with the
per-capita net income of more than 700 yuan had been basically
solved.) According to this standard, 592 counties in 27 provinces,
autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central
government were listed as the key poverty-stricken counties to be
aided in the Seven-Year Priority Poverty Alleviation Program,
covering over 72 percent of the rural poor across the country. The
series of policies and measures for development-oriented poverty
relief work adopted by the Central government in subsequent years
were mainly centered on solving the problem of food and clothing of
the people in the counties on the state priority list.
The state has driven forward the solution of poverty in the rural
poverty-stricken areas across the country through concentrated and
effective aid to the impoverished counties. The state has
explicitly demanded that all aid-the-poor funds must be used in the
poverty-stricken counties. In 1996, the Central government further
set the minimum proportion of supportive poverty relief funds
(30-50 percent) for the provinces, autonomous regions and
municipalities to guarantee the local supportive funds to be used
in the key counties.
Putting the Stress on the Poverty-stricken Areas in the Central
and Western Regions
It
is an important strategic measure to favor the central and western
regions in China's development-oriented assistance to the
poverty-stricken. The regional features of China's economic
development are very outstanding. The eastern coastal areas take
the lead in economic development, taking full advantage of their
own strengths. But the central and western regions are relatively
backward. Therefore, China's rural poor are mostly concentrated in
the central and western regions, especially in the western region,
living in scattered areas in deserts, hills, mountains and
plateaus. These regions are characterized by the largest number of
poor people, and the deepest degree and most complicated structure
of poverty. Of the 592 poverty-stricken counties named by the
Chinese government on its priority poverty relief list in 1994, 82
percent are situated in the central and western regions.
The Chinese government started to readjust the regional structure
of the allocation of the state poverty relief funds in 1994:
adjusting the relief credit funds of the Central government in the
coastal economically developed provinces to favor the worst
provinces and autonomous regions in the central and western
regions, and earmarking the new relief funds from the central
budget only for poor areas in those provinces and regions. Keeping
the overall situation in mind, the state has formulated
preferential policies to actively promote a horizontal union
between the eastern and western regions, and the aid-the-poor
cooperation between similar departments of different
institutions.
Over the past year, China has started to carry out the strategy of
large-scale development of the western region to accelerate its
development and narrow the gap in development between regions. The
state has arranged preferential construction projects of
infrastructural facilities, ecological environment and resource
development in the western region, steadily increasing its
investments and its financial transfer payments to the western
region. All these have contributed a great deal to promoting the
development of the western region and the solution of the food and
clothing problem of the poverty-stricken there.
Increasing Capital Input for Poverty Reduction
Over the past 20 years, with the augmentation of the state
financial resources, the special aid-the-poor funds arranged by the
Chinese government have constantly increased. In 2000, such funds
totaled 24.8 billion yuan, or 31 times as much as in 1980. The
accumulative total of such funds have reached over 168 billion
yuan, of which more than 80 billion yuan was from financial funds
(including over 39 billion yuan of work-relief funds), and 88
billion yuan from credit funds. Local governments have also
increased the aid-the-poor funds according to the proportion of
supportive funds set by the Central government (30-50 percent since
1996).
The special aid-the-poor funds of the Chinese government mainly
include two categories: financial and credit funds. The former
includes funds to support the development of the underdeveloped
areas, the new financial aid-the-poor funds, and work-relief funds.
To tighten the control of the aid-the-poor funds and improve their
utilization benefits, the State Council formulated the unified
Measures on the Management of the State Poverty Relief Funds in
1997, explicitly providing for the objects and conditions of the
aid, with special emphasis on the requirement that these funds
should be used complementarily according to the overall objectives
and requirements of the Seven-Year Priority Poverty Alleviation
Program, so as to form a concerted effort enabling the funds to
generate overall benefits. The aid-the-poor funds from various
channels should be mainly put into the following fields: The
financial funds are to be mainly used in the construction of basic
farmland, small irrigation works and country roads, providing
drinking water for people and livestock, technical training and the
popularization of practical agrotechniques; the credit funds are to
be used in assisting the poverty-stricken households in crop
cultivation and aquiculture and poultry raising projects to
increase their incomes of the same year. At the same time, the
special relief departments at all levels are required to strengthen
the inspection and supervision of the management and use of the
funds. Auditing departments are required to strictly audit the use
of the funds and promptly deal with and problem once found. These
measures have played a key role in improving the utilization
benefits of the aid-the-poor funds and in realizing the objective
of basically solving the problem of food and clothing of the poor
according to the required schedule.