Keynote Speech at International Conference on Taking Action for the Worlds Poor and Hungry People

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• Keynote Speech at International Conference on
  Taking Action for the Worlds Poor and Hungry
  People
• Review and Outlook of Poverty Alleviation and
  Development in China
• Fan Xiaojian
• Director and Deputy Group Leader of the State
  Council Leading Group Office of Poverty
  Alleviation and Development
• Oct 17 2007, Beijing China

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• Contents
• I. Major Achievements and Contribution made by
  Poverty Alleviation for Development in China
• II. Policy Options in Different Stages of Poverty
  Alleviation
• III. Development-oriented Poverty Alleviation
  Program with Chinese Characteristics
• IV. Challenges and Prospects

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• Foreword

Since the founding of new China 58 years ago,
especially since reform and opening up carried
out 30 years ago, China has made tremendous
progress in poverty alleviation in China. The
progress we have made is the result of a
sustained economic growth, a series of
development policies for social equity and
special programs for poverty alleviation taken by
the Government. The fundamental experience is
that the Chinese Government has adopted and
formulated a series of strategies and policies
which have suited for our national conditions in
poverty alleviation in different development
periods.
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• I. Major Achievements and Contribution made by
  Poverty Alleviation for Development in China

1. Substantive reduction of the rural poor
population
Size of rural poor population and poverty
incidence in China from 1978 to 2006
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I. Major Achievements and Contribution made by
Poverty Alleviation for Development in China

• 2. All social undertakings in the poor regions
  achieved remarkable progress. Infrastructures in
  the poor regions have been greatly improved, and
  human spirit in poor areas has gone through
  fundamental changes.
• 3. Remarkable achievements in poverty alleviation
  and development promoted political stability,
  social equity, national unity and border
  consolidation, thus becoming important factor to
  ensure an enduring social order.

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I. Major Achievements and Contribution made by
Poverty Alleviation for Development in China

• 4. Poverty alleviation and development in
  China also made positive contribution to the
  world poverty reduction.

Distribution of poor population living with less
than 1 USD per day 19811995 From the World Bank
website?
Distribution of poor population living with less
than 1 USD per day in 2000 From World Resources
Institute, 2006
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II. Policy Options in Different Stages of Poverty
Alleviation

• Stage 1 broad-sense poverty alleviation in the
  planned economic system (1949-1977)

1. Background planned economic system
established rural cooperative movement and
peoples communes mobilized capital for
industrial development accumulated through system
arrangement including collective ownership of
major agricultural production materials such as
land, mandatory low-price purchase of agriculture
products, and even distribution.
2. Strategic measures to raise rural
productivity ? launch large-scale
infrastructure construction ? establishing
agri-technology extension service network
basically covering the whole country ?
setting up national rural cooperative credit
system ? pushing forward rapid development
of rural fundamental education and basic medical
care ? preliminarily setting up rural
social security system with focus on communitys
Wubao of five quarantine system and assistance
to rural extremely poor people.
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II. Policy Options in Different Stages of Poverty
Alleviation

• Stage II large-scale poverty mitigation driven
  by system reform (1978-1985)

1. Background China started the transformation
from planned economy to market economy. The rural
areas took the lead in reform and opening up to
the outside world. 2. Policy measures to
facilitate poverty alleviation ? Establish
household contract responsibility system, reform
rural distribution system, and introduce market
orientation into the price formation and
distribution mechanism for agricultural
products. ? Vigorously develop urban and
township enterprises. ? Promote transfer
of rural redundant labors to non-agricultural
industries.
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II. Policy Options in Different Stages of Poverty
Alleviation

• Stage II large-scale poverty mitigation driven
  by system reform (1978-1985)

? Mobilize earmarked strategies on poverty
alleviation and development 1980 -
Established the Development Fund for the
Assistance to Economically Underdeveloped
Regions 1982 Launched agricultural
development project for Sanxi Region, which
consists of Dingxi Region and Hexi Region of
Gansu Province, and Xihaigu Region of Ningxia
Autonomous Region 1984 - Started the food
for work projects which supply goods in kind, and
built infrastructures in poverty stricken areas
1984 - Defined 18 poverty stricken zones as
key areas in poverty alleviation programs.
This period was the most effective one in the
poverty alleviation history in China rural
extremely poor population dropped from 250
million to 125 million, with average reduction of
17.86 million year on year. Poverty incidence
went down from 30.7 to 14.8, averaging 9.4
annually.
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II. Policy Options in Different Stages of Poverty
Alleviation

• Stage III development-oriented poverty
  alleviation targeting at specific areas (1986 -
  2000)

1. Background with rolling out market-oriented
economic reform, disparity between middle west
areas and coastal areas in the east increased
gradually, and the rural economic growth and the
improvement of farmers living conditions in
areas of unfavorable conditions slowed down.
2. Strategic measures on poverty alleviation 1).
Roll out earmarked strategies on rural poverty
alleviation, and implement the planned, organized
and large-scale poverty alleviation and
development programs ? Establish specific
institutions ? Formulate the strategy of
development-oriented poverty alleviation
? Define poverty standard and key supporting
areas ? Continue to implement policies of
financial assistance like Development Fund for
the Assistance to Economically Underdeveloped
Area, Food for Work Project, Sanxi
Development and etc ? Reduce poverty
through favorable credit policies
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II. Policy Options in Different Stages of Poverty
Alleviation
Stage III development-oriented poverty
alleviation targeting at specific areas (1986 -
2000)
? Implement the National Eight-Seven
Poverty Alleviation Plan since 1993 By 2000, the
rural poor population was reduced to 32 million
and the poverty incidence decreased to around 3.
Poverty also changed from a widespread phenomenon
to the spot phenomenon, the incidence of which
showed the pattern of spot, line and area, and
the type of poverty has changed from absolute
poverty to relative poverty.
2). Emergence of urban poverty and responsive
measures ? Background due to industrial
restructuring, transformation of employment
system, and reform of distribution system and
social welfare system, social differentiation
deepened, the income disparity increased, and
urban poverty became a prominent issue. ?
Responsive measures roughly established the
fundamental framework of urban social security
system promote reemployment of laid-off workers
and increase job opportunities
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II. Policy Options in Different Stages of Poverty
Alleviation

• Stage IV poverty alleviation for development in
  the process of building a well-off society in an
  all-round way. (from 2001 on)

Poverty alleviation measures 1. Implemented the
China Rural Poverty Alleviation and Development
Program (2001-2010) Promptly address food and
clothing needs of the remaining poor population
further improve the production and living
conditions of poverty stricken areas, and
reinforce the poverty reduction achievements.
Industrialization orientation
Training for labor transfer
Village-based program
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II. Policy Options in Different Stages of Poverty
Alleviation

• Stage IV poverty alleviation for development in
  the process of building a well-off society in an
  all-round way. (from 2001 on)

By 2006, the number of people living in absolute
poverty has fallen to 21.48 million, and poverty
incidence dropped to 2.3. 2. A complete
anti-poverty policy system encompassing
development-oriented poverty alleviation
programs, disaster relief, five guarantees
scheme and subsistence allowance scheme was
established. 3. Development-oriented, preventive
and relief-oriented anti-poverty policy system
for urban areas has also been improved gradually.
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III. Development-oriented Poverty Alleviation
Program with Chinese Characteristics
Ideological emancipation, structural reform,
institutional innovation and policy support
running through the entire reform program have
brought along sustained and rapid economic
growth, which have created a favorable
macro-environment for large-scale poverty
reduction. In this process, the Government of
China clearly recognized that market can not
benefit all the people automatically while the
economic growth and the generalized preferential
policy measures cannot solve all the
poverty-related problems. Therefore, we carried
out a special poverty alleviation program
targeted on poor population, which is a
development-oriented poverty alleviation program
in line with the context of China. The core of
this program is government leadership, public
participation, self-reliance, development-oriented
poverty alleviation and all-round growth.
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III. Development-oriented Poverty Alleviation
Program with Chinese Characteristics

• 1. Government leadership

1. Integrate poverty alleviation and development
into national economic and social development
plans 2. Set up and improve governing structure
should at both central and local level, and
consolidate relevant responsibilities of
governments at all levels 3. Increase capital
input continuously 4. Formulate pro-poor
policies 5. Mobilize all social sectors to
participate in poverty alleviation
Poverty alleviation institutions at all levels
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III. Development-oriented Poverty Alleviation
Program with Chinese Characteristics

• 2. Public participation

1). 6 provinces in East China, 3 municipalities
directly under the Central Government and 6
municipalities with independent budgetary status
were assigned to help reduce poverty in 11
western poor provinces.
2). 272 government and Party agencies at central
level and large state-owned enterprises were
assigned to help reduce poverty in 481 key
poverty-stricken counties.
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III. Development-oriented Poverty Alleviation
Program with Chinese Characteristics

• 2. Public participation

4. We hope to promote the cooperation with
international organizations, bilateral agencies
and international non-governmental organizations
to jointly carry out poverty alleviation
activities.
3. All social sectors should be mobilized to
participate in poverty alleviation.
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III. Development-oriented Poverty Alleviation
Program with Chinese Characteristics

• 3. Self-reliance

1. Change outdated concepts of the poor
farmers 2. Entitle the poor farmers rights to
participate 3. Promote capacity building of the
poor farmers 4. Facilitate self-governance of
villagers through poverty alleviation and
development activities
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III. Development-oriented Poverty Alleviation
Program with Chinese Characteristics

• 4. Development-oriented poverty alleviation

2. Improve land productivity of poor farmers by
developing farmland water conservancy projects.
1. Help poor villages develop infrastructure for
access to road, electricity, mail, radio and
television.
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III. Development-oriented Poverty Alleviation
Program with Chinese Characteristics

• 4. Development-oriented poverty alleviation

5. Develop large-scale labor transfer and
voluntary relocation of farmers and creating job
and development opportunities.
3. Support poor farmers in developing crop
production, animal production and small-scale
processing projects.
4. Organize diversified vocational and technical
trainings to introduce new agricultural
technology and practices.
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III. Development-oriented Poverty Alleviation
Program with Chinese Characteristics

• 5. All-round development

1. Popularize 9-year compulsory education, and
basically eliminate illiteracy among adults 2.
Provide free textbooks and exempting extra
charges for all the students from poor rural
families in the central and western regions in
the primary and secondary schools, and subsidize
living expenses for the poor in boarding
schools 3. Gradually set up a new type of rural
cooperative medical care system 4. Actively urge
poor rural families to have fewer children and
get rich as soon as possible 5. Convert farmland
for forestry and carry out other large-scale
projects 6. Establish the rural minimum cost of
living allowance system.
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IV. Challenges and Prospects
1. Challenges

• 1. Huge poor population and entrenched poverty
• 2. Development in poor areas still lagging
  behind
• 3. Increasing factors leading to poverty, with
  unabated recurrence of poverty
• 4. Unbalanced socio-economic development
  development of public service and social security
  system falling behind conflict between natural
  ecology and economic development being prominent
  implementation system of social development and
  poverty alleviation policy to be improved and the
  efficiency of poverty reduction to be enhanced
  immediately.

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IV. Challenges and Prospects
2. Prospects

• 1). Objectives and priorities of
  development-oriented poverty alleviation in the
  next three years
• provide sufficient food and shelter to rural
  poor try to accomplish the village-based poverty
  alleviation plan provide the access to
  television in administrative villages, access to
  highway in places where conditions permit, access
  to electricity in natural villages further
  improve drinking water supply for human and
  animals and improve medical care system,
  popularize the nine-year compulsory education in
  an all-round way. Based on the new
  characteristics and development of poverty as
  well as the requirement of scientific development
  concept and building a harmonious society, new
  poverty alleviation plan will be formulated in
  line with local conditions and new policy
  measures will be adopted.

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IV. Challenges and Prospects
2. Prospects

• 2). Favorable macro-environment and sound
  development basis for poverty alleviation in the
  forthcoming period
• ? Promote sustained and rapid development
  of national economy
• ? Constantly improve social security and
  assistance system
• ? Achieve more harmonious development of
  economy and nature
• ? Build modern agriculture following a
  guidance of industry promoting agriculture,
  urban areas promoting rural areas
• ? Improve physical conditions for rural
  development and increase farmers income
• ? Develop rural social undertakings, and
  bring up new type of farmers
• ? Gradually realize a coordinated
  socio-economic development in urban and rural
  areas.

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IV. Challenges and Prospects
2. Prospects
3). Drive forth poverty alleviation and
development steadily ? Persist in
development-oriented poverty alleviation, and
integrate development with security ?
Innovate mechanism, pool resources and increase
investment in poverty alleviation ? Improve
fund management and enhance investment
efficiency ? Address food and shelter needs
of poor people, improve peoples income and
self-development capacity, and let the poor
people benefit from the achievements of reform
and development. 4). Continue to actively
participate in the global poverty alleviation
course.
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• Thank you!