As a response to the concern on the newly added 8 million
population struggling in poverty, Liu Jian, head of State Council
Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development,
explain why things were the way they were and how things can be
made different in the future in an interview with People's
Daily.
The growing poverty-hit population, Liu thought, showed how
challenging the task of poverty alleviation and development was as
a long-term ordeal of great complexity. This was especially true
since the new millennium arrived because of four reasons.
First, 76 percent of rural households without adequate food or
shelter dwelled in mountain areas where the environment of life and
development was very difficult. 46 percent of them fed on arable
land no more than one mu per capita. Education was the second
barrier. For example, in 2003, 22.4 percent of rural labors in
counties listed as extreme poverty were illiterate. The scattered
settlements of the poor also added to the difficulty. And those who
just had enough food and clothing were economically very vulnerable
to any disasters, which created some 2 million poverty population
in Henan, Anhui, Shaanxi and Heilongjiang provinces in 2003.
The international community recognized and spoke highly of China's
efforts on poverty alleviation and development, Liu mentioned.
Given the deteriorating poverty and widening gap between the poor
and the rich in the world, China's experience on continuous poverty
alleviation was especially valuable, he said.
This can be evidenced by two facts, Liu noted. The first was the
improvement of the conditions in poor areas and better life of
people struggling for survival. The second was China's innovation
on its endeavor of poverty alleviation and development which proved
to be very successful and effective.
Liu also reviewed the way that China has gone along in the past 20
years on poverty alleviation and development based on systematic
innovation. The System of Family Contracting launched at the
beginning of the era of opening-up and reform basically freed the
country's rural areas from poverty. In the following 20 year, the
country developed many ground-breaking methodologies for its
poverty alleviation campaign. The efficiency and transparency were
both improved when the project was pushed forward village by
village.
Liu told the reporter new measures to be taken by his office.
Poverty alleviation planning based on villages will bring better
living and production condition for poor areas. Poor rural
residents will get access to professional training and advantages
of the surge of labor transfer. Development of leading enterprises
contributing to alleviate poverty will be encouraged, which in turn
will adjust the industrial structure of the poor areas and increase
poor farmers' income.
In the mean time, they also have the plan to promote agricultural
technologies, ensure the food safety, strengthen the fund
management, guarantee the fulfillment of various tasks, and develop
closer cooperation with related department.
(People's Daily October 21, 2004)