China's economy surged by 10.9 percent in the first half of 2006, the fastest rise in a decade. But Wu Zhong, an official in charge of international cooperation and poverty reduction with the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development still has his doubts. The poverty line simply failed to reflect the average standard of living, said Wu.

At the end of last year, official statistics stated that China had 23.65 million people living below the poverty line. But China's poor actually totaled 120 million to 130 million, using the internationally-accepted US$1per day guideline, said Wu, opening the possibility that over 100 million people have not been provided for at all.

"The 23.65 million below the Chinese poverty line are actually people struggling in abject poverty where even food, clothing and shelter are a problem for them," he told an international symposium on poverty and international cooperation in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province.

"So another 100 million poor people have not been categorized as poor and therefore are not getting any of the help they need," he added.

China set a poverty line of 206 yuan (about US$50) in 1986 if calculated at the then exchange rate and was about half of a farmer's annual income. In 1986, China set a poverty line of 206 yuan (about US$50) which amounted at the time to half an average farmer's annual income. However, this system has since lost its accuracy.

"We must not consider the poverty line as being unalterable or simply copy the international standard," said Du Ping, an official with the planning department of the Leading Group under the State Council for the Development of the Western Regions.

Du stated that in order to ensure that all share equally from the benefits of China's social and economic development, a more "scientific" standard needs to be set up in line with price rises and national revenue increases. Only in this way will adequate help come to those who need it the most.

The government has made laudable efforts over the past two decades to reduce poverty and improve the general quality of life.

In 2006, the central government has allocated 13.4 billion yuan (US$1.675 billion) towards poverty reduction with this amount likely to rise, said Liu Jian, director of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development.

The latest figures from Liu's office show that in the 592 poverty-stricken counties to which the central government had provided priority poverty reduction support, 79 percent of villages are now linked to the outside by highways, 95.8 percent had access to electricity and 70 percent had access to safe drinking water by the end of last year. Unfortunately, in many parts of the country, natural disasters, poor maintenance and drought conditions threaten the reliability and durability of these services, bringing about frequent power-outs and soiling clean water supplies.

Moreover, 73.8 percent of villages had installed fixed-line telephone services and 87.6 percent had access to television.

Figures also show 94.7 percent of children from 6-18 years old are now attending school and medical services have been significantly improved, as well as the access to said services.

However, Liu said tough challenges remained. "For example, many poverty-hit areas are still not receiving adequate food supplies," he said. In a survey of 100 poverty-stricken counties across China last year, Liu's office found about 36.4 percent of households suffered from food shortages.

National and international efforts continue to try and find a permanent solution to this crisis. Hopefully, with the continuing hard work of the central government, this will come swiftly and bring a measure of hope to those most afflicted.

(China Daily August 24, 2006)