Observer Report Beijing
Chinese President Xi Jinping has made the historic announcement at a national commendation conference held in Beijing on Thursday that the country had achieved ‘complete victory’ against extreme poverty.
This [complete victory] would go down in history detailing how China fought and got rid of extreme poverty, said the president. With such achievements, China has created another “miracle”, Xi said while addressing the jam-packed audience.
- President Xi Jinping says 850 million people have been lifted out of destitution in an ‘unprecedented accomplishment’
- Beijing’s success in fighting poverty has been pegged to the country’s ambitious economic reform
“Shaking off poverty is not the finish line, but the starting point of a new life and new endeavour,” further said the Chinese president. President Xi had put forward the concept of “targeted poverty alleviation” in November 2013 during an inspection tour of central China’s Hunan Province.
In a speech at a ceremony in Beijing on Thursday to commend extreme poverty fighters, broadcast live on state television, President Xi said his signature campaign to improve livelihoods had added 100 million people to the total during his eight years in power.
“There is no other country that could achieve such remarkable poverty alleviation progress within such a short time,” he said.
The Communist Party of China (CPC) has been working to improve people’s livelihood since its foundation, and the CPC Central Committee has kept poverty eradication at a prominent position in the country’s governance over the past eight years, President Xi said.
More than 10 million impoverished people were lifted out of poverty on average each year since the 18th National Congress of the CPC in 2012.
During these eight years, the final 98.99 million impoverished rural residents living under the current poverty line were lifted out of poverty and all the 832 impoverished counties and 128,000 impoverished villages have been removed from the poverty list.
In addition, 770 million rural residents have shaken off poverty since the beginning of reform and opening-up over 40 years ago, when calculated as per the current poverty line, Xi said.
Reviewing China’s effort over the past eight years, Xi said the country totally invested fiscal funds of nearly 1.6 trillion yuan (about $246 billion) into poverty alleviation and adopted a targeted poverty alleviation strategy, striving to eradicate poverty through development.
Meanwhile, over 1,800 workers lost lives for the country’s cause of poverty alleviation, Xi added.
China met the poverty eradication target set in the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 10 years ahead of schedule, and according to the World Bank’s international poverty line, the number of Chinese people lifted out of extreme poverty over the past 40 years accounts for more than 70 percent of the global total, Xi noted. In the ceremony, role models with outstanding performances in the country’s fight against poverty were also honoured by the President.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, presented awards to the recipients of honorary titles and delivered a speech at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Apart from the role models, awards were also presented to other individuals and advanced collectives for their dedication to China’s grand poverty reduction drive and for great achievements in this regard.
Focus on poverty eradication in the country’s governance:
The Communist Party of China (CPC) has been working to enhance people’s livelihood since its foundation, and the CPC Central Committee has kept poverty eradication at a prominent position in the country’s governance over the past eight years, Xi said. More than 10 million impoverished people were lifted out of poverty on average each year since the 18th National Congress of the CPC in 2012.
China model:
Xi said the country has created a “China example” of poverty reduction and made great contributions to global poverty alleviation.
China has lifted 770 million rural residents out of poverty since the beginning of the reform and opening-up over 40 years ago when calculated in accordance with China’s current poverty line, accounting for more than 70 percent of the global total according to the World Bank’s international poverty line.
In addition, China is actively helping other developing countries to fight extreme poverty.
