Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has announced the country will once again seek to lift many more people out of poverty in 2016. Political advisors have been offering their insights and proposals on how this can be done, based on their own experiences and research. [Special Coverage]
China's poverty relief campaign is at its final, but most difficult stage. The government has promised more targeted measures with a priority for helping those in a seemingly perpetual state of poverty. But there are three aspects to be aware of.
"First we need to find the targets correctly. Second we must insure the relief funds are used on the right people, not unnecessary ones. Third, we must make people understand that they've been lifted out of poverty," CPPCC member Fan Xiaojian said.
It's China's aim to totally eliminate poverty by 2020. At the moment, it's estimated that as many as 70 million people, mostly in rural areas, are in this category. According to this member from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, 42 percent of them are poor because of illness. 33 percent of that group are the breadwinner of their family and get ill because they are poor, while 12 percent went bankrupt after having an accident. He says medical relief should be a priority.
"We should discuss what typical regional illnesses are making people poor. Take Guangxi for example, the thalassaemia. From 2010 to 2015, we started a prevention project, reducing the number of babies born with the illness by 36,000, saving some 36,000 families from possible poverty," CPPCC member Peng Zhao said.
Many members have offered specific proposals based on research.
"I think giving them a job is more important than giving them money. Local governments should collect information on occupations and share them with the poor people in rural areas. They can train them to be much-needed hospital workers and babysitters, and even create new jobs for them," CPPCC member Chen Shaojun said.
Some even go further, and see the poverty relief campaign as a chance to improve the environment.
"Many rural residents' home are shabby and not warm in north China. We can subsidize them to renovate their houses so that they can save coal burning. Beijing's performance has proved that could save 60 percent of energy," CPPCC member Wang Fuqiang said.
