In the past year, China lifted 23 million people out of poverty. At the same time, 100 million people moved from rural areas to cities in order to work. Officially, according to the NBS, or the National Bureau of Statistics, approximately 23 million people living in rural areas moved above the poverty line according to their yearly income, which in China is about $365 (or 2,300 yuan). At the end of 2012, less than 100 million rural residents were in poverty, which is an incredible statistic considering China has over 1.3 billion citizens. Urbanization of China has shown to provide better jobs and living conditions, and helps people overcome the stresses of living in poverty. Also, China lifted 23 million people out of poverty by allocating almost 300 billion yuan (or $48 billion) to better the livelihood of Chinese citizens.
Even though China lifted 23 million people out of poverty already, they are still committed to continue the fight against Chinese poverty in the upcoming years. China has a goal to double the per capita income from 2010 by 2020, according to Fan Xiaojian, who is the director of the State Council’s Poverty Alleviation Leading Group Office. He insists this requires an even stronger commitment to poverty reduction. This would mean the average yearly income of rural residents needs to reach 12,000 yuan, or $1,920. The Party chief, Xi Jinping, gave a surprising visit to the Hebei province. Two of the recipients of this visit were Tang Rongbin and his wife; this area is going to receive 300 million yuan, or almost $50 million, each year from the government to improve their livelihood.
Overall, China wishes to help develop the poor areas of the country. They have a new strategy for poverty, titled the “Outline for Development-oriented Poverty Reduction for China’s Rural Areas (2011-20).” A heavy name for a simple task: to reduce poverty. China has had incredible success over the past year, and gives hope to the rest of the world in their own attempts at poverty reduction.
– Corina Balsamo
Sources: Rediff, People’s Daily Online, China Daily
Photo: Flickr