China in a Decade: Complete Victory in Fight against Poverty, Continuous Improvement of Farmers’ Lives

Since the 18th Party Congress, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has prioritized poverty eradication in national governance and viewed it as a bottom-line task for the building of a well-off society. Following the strategy of precise poverty alleviation and eradication, China launched a nationwide campaign against poverty. After eight years of continuous struggle, all rural poor were lifted out of poverty, absolute poverty was eliminated, regional poverty in general was solved, and a full victory was secured against poverty. To consolidate the fruit of poverty eradication, China embarked on a new mission of promoting rural revitalization. Farmers’ income in counties out of poverty has grown faster and the quality of their life continues to improve.

I. All rural poor are out of poverty, and the battle against poverty was won on schedule

Since the 18th Party Congress, the Party Central Committee and the State Council have put unprecedented efforts into poverty alleviation, focusing on deep-poverty areas and special poverty groups, and introducing supportive policies and targeted measures. At the end of 2020, all rural poor under the current standard were lifted out of poverty, the issue of regional poverty was solved, and China has contributed enormously to the global cause of poverty reduction.

1. All rural poor were lifted out of poverty as scheduled

From 2013 to 2020, the total number of rural poor people decreased by 98.9 million, with an average annual reduction of 12.4 million, and the poverty incidence rate decreased by 1.3 percentage points each year. In 2020, in the face of the sudden outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, China carried out the “consumers-for-poverty-alleviation” actions, creating a significant number of jobs for poor laborers from rural areas. Efforts were also made to ensure the basic living standards of rural poor, and by the end of 2020, all the remaining 5.51 million rural poor registered at the beginning of the year were out of poverty, and the arduous task of eliminating absolute poverty was accomplished as scheduled. Income level of the poor has increased significantly, and their basic needs in food, clothing, housing, healthcare, and schooling were met. Statistics of the National Survey on Poverty Alleviation show that all registered poor households in the 22 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government in central and western China have met such basic standards apart from drinking water safety, which marks China’s full victory in the battle against poverty.

2.Regional poverty has been solved

More than half of the rural poor lifted out of poverty were from the western region. By region, from 2013 to 2020, rural people in poverty in the western region decreased by a total of 50.86 million, accounting for 51.4% of the national total with an average annual reduction of 6.36 million; 34.46 million rural poor in the central region were out of poverty, accounting for 34.8% of the national total with an average annual reduction of 4.31 million. The rural poor in the eastern region decreased by 13.67 million, accounting for 13.8% of the total mix with an average annual reduction of 1.71 million.

Poverty reduction in various regions has been effective. Regions where impoverished areas concentrated and key counties in deep poverty have eradicated poverty on schedule together with the whole country. From 2013 to 2020, 60.39 million rural poor were out of poverty, with an average drop of 7.55 million each year, accounting for 61.6% of the total scale of rural poverty reduction nationwide. Rural population living under poverty line in contiguous poor areas was reduced by 50.67 million, with an average annual reduction of 6.3 million. Rural poor in key impoverished counties decreased by 51.05 million, with an average annual reduction of 6.38 million.

3. Great contribution to the global cause of poverty reduction

China has contributed to more than 70% of the global poverty reduction target. Since the reform and opening up, according to the World Bank’s poverty standard of 1.9 dollars per person per day, China has accounted for more than 70% of the global population lifted out of poverty. According to the World Bank, China’s poverty incidence rate dropped from 88.3% at the end of 1981 to 0.5% at the end of 2016, down 87.8 percentage points accumulatively with an average annual decrease of 2.5 percentage points. Over the same period, the global poverty incidence rate fell from 42.7% to 9.7%, a cumulative decline of 33 percentage points with an average annual decline of 0.9 percentage points. China’s poverty reduction and incidence rate had far outperformed that of the global average.

China has helped improve the effectiveness of global governance on poverty reduction. Since the 18th Party Congress, China has achieved remarkable results in poverty eradication through targeted, precise measures, providing Chinese solutions and experience for the world. The World Bank’s 2018 “China Systematic Country Diagnostic” suggests that China has made unprecedented achievements in poverty reduction. In a letter congratulating China on its historic achievement in 2021, UN Secretary-General Guterres said that “China’s extraordinary achievement offers hope and inspiration to the entire international community. This achievement proves that the political commitment and policy continuity are essential to improving the situation of the poorest and most vulnerable”. China not only contributes directly to the cause of poverty reduction in the world through its own achievements, but also actively supports developing countries in their poverty reduction efforts through cooperation projects that benefit people’s livelihood and various forms of experience sharing and exchange.

II. Steady increase in income and living standard for the rural poor

1.Income growth of rural residents in poverty-stricken areas outperformed that of rural areas in general

In 2020, per capita disposable income of rural residents in poor areas reached 12,588 yuan, with an average annual growth of 11.6% from 2013 to 2020, 2.3 percentage points faster than the rural average; after deducting the price factor, the average annual real growth reached 9.2%, 2.2 percentage points faster than the rural average. In 2020, China coordinated Covid-19 containment and economic development, prioritized the employment of poor laborers, effectively solved the problem of stagnant agricultural products sales, and took multiple measures to expand the income channels for the rural poor, resulting in steady growth of residents’ income in impoverished areas. In 2020, per capita disposable income in impoverished areas reached 73.5% of the national rural average, up 11.4 percentage points than in 2012 and significantly narrowing the gap with the rural average nationwide.

2.Income structure of rural residents in poor areas continues to be optimized

The strategy of poverty alleviation through employment has yielded remarkable achievement, with wages becoming the main source of income for people living in poverty. Per capita wage income of rural residents in poor areas reached 4,444 yuan in 2020, with an average annual growth of 12.7% from 2014 to 2020, accounting for 35.3% of their disposable income, up 3.7 percentage points from 2013. Net income from operating a business is growing steadily, too, and the proportion of non-farming income is increasing. In 2020, non-farming income of residents in impoverished rural areas reached 4,391 yuan, with an average annual growth of 6.7% from 2014 to 2020, accounting for 34.9% of their total disposable income. Per capita net income from business in the second and third industries hit 1,192 yuan, with an average annual growth of 12.8%, up 1.0 percentage point than in 2013.

3. Consumption level of rural residents in poverty-stricken areas is significantly improved

In 2020, per capita expenditure of rural residents in poor areas reached 10,758 yuan, with an average annual growth rate of 10.9% from 2013 to 2020, and an average annual real growth rate of 8.6% after deducting price factors. In 2020, per capita expenditure of rural residents in poor areas was 78.5% of the national rural average, up 8.0 percentage points over 2012.

III. Living conditions in poor areas have improved significantly

1. Continuous improvement of infrastructure in poor areas

According to the National Survey on Poverty Alleviation, the proportion of villages with hardened roads in poor areas reached 99.6%, among which all villages with necessary conditions are reachable by hardened roads; the proportion of villages with power electricity hit 99.3%, and all villages within the coverage of large power grids are supplied with electricity. In addition, telecommunications network covered 99.9% of villages, broadband internet covered 99.6%, and radio and TV signal covered 99.9% of villages. The proportion of villages with comprehensive service facilities reached 99.0%; and 62.7% of China’s villages are equipped with an e-commerce distribution site.

2.Improvement of education and cultural facilities and services in poor areas

The National Survey on Poverty Alleviation shows that the proportion of townships with elementary school in poor areas reached 98.5%; all counties have junior high schools; the proportion of townships with middle schools reached 70.3%; and 94.1% townships have boarding schools. As for non-compulsory education, the proportion of counties with secondary vocational schools in poor areas reached 82.4%, and 18.7% counties have a technical college, the proportion of counties with vocational training institutions reached 84.5%.

3.Medical and health service system in poor areas continues to improve

Medical and health service capacity at the county level has been comprehensively improved, with healthcare and medical insurances made available, accessible, and affordable for the rural poor. The National Survey on Poverty Alleviation shows that the medical and health service systems at the county, township and village levels are well established in regions where the rural poor live. Among all poverty-stricken areas, 99.8% counties have at least one county-level public hospital (including Chinese medicine hospitals), and other counties are able to provide basic medical care as well.

4. Living conditions in poor areas have improved significantly

Living environment of the poor continues to improve, and villages have taken on a new look with clean and tidy environment. In 2020, the proportion of rural households living in houses and cooking with firewood in poor areas was reduced to 0.8% and 29.3% respectively, down 7.0 and 31.8 percentage points from 2012. The proportion of rural households with piped water supply and independent toilets reached 91.0% and 97.2%, respectively, 34.6 and 6.2 percentage points higher than in 2012. According to the National Survey on Poverty Alleviation, the proportion of villages with fully centralized water supply reached 65.5%, and 31.9% villages in poor areas achieved partially centralized water supply; the proportion of villages with fully centralized garbage disposal hit 89.9%, and 9.0% villages in poor areas achieved partially centralized disposal of garbage.

IV. Consolidated results of poverty eradication with better living conditions for rural residents in areas out of poverty

1.Income growth of rural residents in poverty-eradicated counties continues to outperform that of rural areas nationwide

In 2021, per capita disposable income of rural residents in counties out of poverty reached 14,051 yuan, a nominal growth of 11.6% over the previous year, with a real growth of 10.8% after deducting price factors, and both the nominal and real growth rates were 1.1 percentage points higher than that of the national rural average.

2.Living standards of rural residents in counties out of poverty has been steadily improving

In 2021, per capita consumption expenditure of rural residents in counties out of poverty reached 12,311 yuan, representing a nominal growth of 14.4% over the previous year and a real growth of 13.6% after deducting the price factor.