How China plans to eradicate poverty by 2020?
Watch this video for the story of Chen Shijie, who was laid off from a state-owned enterprise in 2001 and is today working as a cleaner in Shenyang, Liaoning Province.
How China plans to eradicate poverty by 2020?
China’s economic boom over the last 30 years has meant that the country has made enormous strides in eradicating poverty.
Since the 1980s, China has lifted over half billion people out of poverty.
However,
still 82 million people in the country live on less than $1 a day, and the State Council believes that despite the achievements, the number is still too high.
In fact, the government is keen to achieve
complete eradication of poverty by 2020.
However, achieving that will require well-directed policy initiatives, which
not only provide welfare assistance for the poor but also create opportunities.
For instance, in parts of Yunnan Province, the government is trying to implement a mix of subsidies along with interest free loans.
Moreover, identifying the fact that often poverty-stricken people live in areas that are isolated and prone to natural disasters, there is a renewed governmental focus on infrastructure.
In fact, plans are in place to mobilize companies, organizations and individuals to participate in reducing poverty in the country’s poorest areas.
“We will push energy and solar energy projects to reduce poverty. We’ll encourage e-commerce in villages. Their special industries and products should be better known because of improved transportation conditions,” said Zheng Wenkai, from the State Council’s Poverty Relief Office.
Apart from this,
the government also plans to promote tourism in rural areas and invest in agriculture to improve productivity.
While most of these steps are aimed at addressing poverty in rural and remote areas,
there is also a growing need to focus on skill development to address urban poverty.
In fact, over the years, the reprioritization of China’s economic growth meant that many unskilled or semi-skilled workers lost their jobs and are now struggling to make ends meet.