On March 5, 2021, Chinese ambassador to Mexico Mr. Zhu Qingqiao published onMillennium, a Mexican newspaper, a signed article entitled “Making Dreams Come True through Consistent Efforts and Strive for a New Journey”. It was pointed out in the article that as the CPC prepares to embrace the important juncture of its centenary, complete victory has been achieved in China’s fight against poverty. All the impoverished population under the current poverty line have been lifted out of poverty, thus accomplishing the arduous task of the elimination of extreme poverty. Going forward, China will continue to work with other countries in poverty reduction, fulfill its international obligations, help other developing countries to the best of its ability and jointly create a beautiful new world free from poverty, which enjoys prosperity and development and holds a common future for mankind. The full article runs as follows:
On February 25, the award-giving conference reviewing China’s achievements in poverty elimination was held in Beijing. President Xi Jinping solemnly declared that as the CPC prepares to celebrate the important juncture of its centenary, complete victory has been achieved in China’s fight against poverty. All the 98.99 million impoverished rural population, 832 impoverished countries and 128,000 impoverished villages under the current poverty line have been lifted out of poverty. Overall and regional poverty has been addressed. China has accomplished the task of eliminating extreme poverty, a long-cherished dream of the Chinese people.
Fighting poverty has long been an important priority and thorny task for each and every country since time immemorial. The history of China is the history of the Chinese nation’s fight against poverty, the most splendid chapter of which is the arduous struggles of the Chinese people in shaking off poverty and improving their lives under the leadership of the CPC that has taken the happiness of the people and the great renewal of the Chinese nation as its founding mission. During the revolutionary period, the CPC led the peasants in abolishing feudal exploitations, emancipating the productive forces and developing agricultural production. During the construction period, the CPC explored the path of developing collectives, improving the infrastructure of education and health care. Since reform and opening up, the CPC has united and lead the entire Chinese people in the largest ever and most well-organized campaign on poverty elimination through development, which has emancipated and developed social productive forces, vigorously protected people’s wellbeing and scored unprecedented achievements.
For China, the most populous country in the world, poverty elimination cannot be achieved overnight. At the end of 2012, the poverty headcount ratio was 10.2%, which meant that poverty reduction entered the “deep water territory” (it is shown by international experience that once the poverty headcount ratio drops below 10%, poverty reduction enters the most difficult period). Facing difficulties and challenges, the Chinese people have never given up. The Chinese government has always taken poverty elimination as a top priority and the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects a basic requirement that must be met. President Xi Jinping solemnly pledged that not a single individual or poor region would be left behind. In 2020, despite the severe impact of COVID-19, the Chinese government never wavered in its resolve and efforts and accomplished the tasks of poverty elimination on schedule. Over the past 8 years, a person was lifted out of poverty every three minutes on average. All the 28 ethnic groups with relatively few population have shaken off poverty. Over 20 million impoverished people with disabilities have received different categories of treatment; nearly 20 million impoverished people have access to subsistence allowance or special relief; over 24 million people with severe disabilities are eligible for special subsidies. From 2015 to 2020, the net income of registered poor population increased from RMB 2982 yuan to RMB 10740 yuan, an increase of 29.2% annually.
China’s poverty elimination measures are all-encompassing, with the focus on public service and social security and the aim at fostering long-term progress in socio-economic development of the impoverished areas. By far, all the townships and villages with certain conditions have access to cement road. Newly-built rural highway has reached 1.1 million kilometers, and newly-build railway lines 35,000 kilometers. The reliability rate of the power grid in poor areas has reached 99%. The electricity coverage of poor villages under the grand power grid has reached 100%. The percentages of both optical fiber and 4G in the rural areas have exceeded 98%. The dilapidated houses of 26.58 million poor people have been renovated. Over 9.6 million people have bid farewell to their poor homes and moved to new houses. To provide local employment to the impoverished population, over 32,000 “poverty elimination workshops” have been set up, which provide jobs for 437,000 people without them having to move to other areas. A total number of 200,000 students had returned to school after dropping out. The coverage of 9-year compulsory education reached 98.4% in 2019.
The elimination of extreme poverty is by no means an end in itself, rather, it is a new starting point for the Chinese people for a more magnificent journey. China will continue to consolidate the outcomes of poverty elimination, take targeted policy measures and ensure that the results of poverty elimination is sustained without anyone falling back to poverty. At the same time, China will spare no efforts to address the imbalance and inadequacies in its development, narrow the gap between urban and rural areas, and strive for the all-round development of and shared prosperity of the people.
The top goal of the UN Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development is the elimination of poverty. In a short span of several decades, China has succeeded in getting 800 million people out of poverty, accounting for around 70% of the global poor, thus accomplishing the poverty reduction goal of the UN Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. The achievement not only belongs to China, but also to the whole world. China will always stand with developing countries in poverty reduction cooperation, fulfill its international obligations, help other developing countries to the best of its ability and jointly create a beautiful new world free from poverty, which enjoys prosperity and development and holds a common future for mankind!
