12. Anti-poverty campaign

Since the mid-1980s, the Chinese government has launched a number of well-planned and well-organized poverty alleviation actions and introduced polices for such purpose. With promotion of the government and active participation of all circles of society, China has made remarkable achievements in this aspect. In 1978, there were 250 million of poor population in rural China, and the poverty incidence (the proportion of rural poor population to the rural total) was up to 30.7 percent. In 2006, this figure declined to 21.48 million, or 230 million less than 1978; and the poverty incidence was 2.3 percent or almost 28 percentage points less than 1978. As a result, the infrastructure, working and living conditions in poverty-stricken areas have been improved to a great deal. These areas have also witnessed a rapid progress in science, technology, education and public health programmes. Now, China has promulgated and implemented the Poverty Alleviation and Development Program in Rural China, 2001-2010, which defines the general targets of anti-poverty campaign for the first ten years of the 21century. The relevant policies and measures include adhering to the principle of poverty alleviation through development; reinforcing the financial support to poverty-stricken areas; increasing allocation of financial resources to all aspects; improving the effectiveness and efficiency of fund use; strengthening the construction of infrastructure in these areas for a faster development of education, culture and public health undertakings; expanding project scale of food for work; strengthening development of rural roads, facilities for drinking water for people and animals, and development of basic farmland and small-scale water conservancy facilities to improve working and living conditions in poor areas; and creating proper conditions for environmental emigration of people who live with extremely adverse environment in a few poor areas.

Achievements in Anti-Poverty Campaign