Measures should be targeted at remote areas: experts
China still has more than 55 million people living in poverty by the end of 2015, after more than 700 million were lifted out of poverty over the past 30 years, a white paper issued on Monday revealed.
Experts said China's poverty alleviation mission has reached a turning point with more targeted measures needed to help people living in areas with a scarcity of resources or living in poverty due to illness.
The State Council Information Office on Monday issued a white paper titled China's Progress in Poverty Reduction and Human Rights, saying China still had 832 poor counties and 55.75 million people living under poverty line, equivalent to the population of a medium-sized country.
Peng Xizhe, the dean of the School of Social Development and Public Policy at Fudan University, told the Global Times that China's poverty reduction strategy has entered a crucial stage since the population living in poverty are scattered in remote areas with scarce resources and the causes of their poverty are diverse.
"The government should take targeted measures for these people, including improving the social security and welfare systems to support people who have been pushed into poverty by natural disasters and illness," said Peng.
Peng also noted that promoting infrastructure development and providing access to education in remote areas could decrease the intergenerational transmission of poverty.
According to the white paper, the government has taken measures to promote compulsory education. In 2012-15, the central government injected 83.1 billion yuan ($12.3 billion) in renovating schools for compulsory education and earmarked 14 billion yuan to build dormitory buildings for some 300,000 teachers in remote areas.
"For those who live in extreme poverty and have little capability for development, the government has taken measures to relocate people, develop industries and enhance employment," said Wang Sangui, a professor at the School of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development at Renmin University of China who specializes in rural poverty studies.
Authorities in 22 provinces and autonomous regions have spent 58 billion yuan on relocation projects, with construction started on more than 10,000 of them, the National Development and Reform Commission revealed. With plans to relocate 2.49 million people this year alone, 718 projects have been completed and 226,000 people have been moved so far.
"Aside from the government's efforts, enterprises and nongovernmental organizations should also share responsibilities for reducing poverty. And the most important thing for poverty reduction is to make sure the fund has been used effectively," said Peng.
The Chinese government assigned special poverty relief funds amounting to 189.84 billion yuan from 2011 to 2015, with an average annual increase of 14.5 percent, read the white paper. It adds that more funds would be earmarked for poverty relief in the coming five years.
China raised its poverty line in 2011 to 2,300 yuan in annual per capita net income (about 6.3 yuan or $1 per day). The World Bank's global poverty threshold is $1.25 per day per person.
