貧困縣
中國自20世紀80年代中期在全國范圍內開展有組織、有計劃、大規模扶貧開發以來，一個基本做法是將貧困面較大、貧困程度較深的縣作為實施扶貧開發的基本組織單位。這是因為，縣一級是中國基層行政建制中組織機構最全、公共管理職能最強的基層組織，是承上啟下的最重要環節，離貧困村、貧困人口的距離最近，有利于開展有針對性的扶貧開發工作。此外，將貧困面較大、貧困程度較重的縣作為扶貧開發的重點單位，有利于將較大比重的貧困人口納入扶貧工作范圍，集中力量進行扶持。
1986年國家第一次確定貧困縣，并以縣為單位，以1985年年人均收入低于150元和少數民族地區年人均純收入低于200元為標準，確定了331個國家重點扶持貧困縣。1994年頒布的《國家八七扶貧攻堅計劃（1994-2000年）》第二次確定貧困縣，將1992年全縣農民人均純收入低于400元的縣全部納入國家級貧困縣，原來的貧困縣高于700元的一律退出。這次調整確定了592個國家重點扶持貧困縣。2001年國家頒布《中國農村扶貧開發綱要（2001-2010年）》對國家重點扶持貧困縣再次進行調整，改稱國家扶貧開發工作重點縣，總體規模仍保持592個。
2011年《中國農村扶貧開發綱要（2011-2020年）》確定14個集中連片特殊困難地區（簡稱連片特困地區）作為扶貧攻堅主戰場，覆蓋680個重點縣。這些縣加上沒有在片區范圍的國家扶貧開發工作重點縣共832個，統稱“貧困縣”。國家確定2020年貧困縣全部摘帽的就是這832個縣。
Poor Counties
China began large-scale planned poverty alleviation and development campaigns in the mid-1980s. The general approach was to designate poor counties as the basic units to receive state support. This is because in China, counties are the grassroots administrative divisions with complete organizations and strong public management. They are a key link in China's administrative system which can effectively carry out targeted policies to help poor villages and poor people out of poverty.
Designating counties with large poor populations and severe poverty as the focus of development-oriented alleviation has brought these poor populations under the umbrella of national campaigns and concentrated the resources available to help them.
China designated poor counties for the first time in 1986. A total of 331 key counties whose per-capita income was below 150 yuan in 1985 were targeted for state assistance. The threshold in ethnic minority areas was below 200 yuan.
In 1994, the state renewed the list of poor counties in the Seven-year Program for Lifting 80 Million People Out of Poverty (1994-2000). Counties where farmers had a per-capita net income below 400 yuan in 1992 were designated as national-level poor counties entitled to state support, and those previously listed as "poor" were removed from the list if farmers there had a per-capita net income higher than 700 yuan. In total, 592 counties across China were listed as targets for national poverty alleviation.
In 2001, the state released the Outline for Development-oriented Poverty Alleviation of China's Rural Areas (2001-2010), and adjusted the list of key counties for poverty alleviation. The total number remained 592.
In 2011, the renewed Outline for Development-oriented Poverty Alleviation of China's Rural Areas (2011-2020) defined 14 contiguous areas of extreme poverty as the main battlefields against poverty, covering 680 key counties. Together with other poor counties located elsewhere, a total of 832 counties were designated as "key poor" ones where poverty must be eliminated by the year 2020.
