China’s battle against poverty

China has worked in an astonishing manner during the last few decades to eradicate poverty. With this project they have managed to alleviate more than 800 Million people from poverty during the last thirty five years.  
The main objective of this article is to find the modalities adopted by the Chinese Government to achieve this. In addition to improving traditional agriculture and industries which I have not discussed here they have implemented multi faceted programmes to make it successful.  
In the alleviation of poverty the government recognizes the role education has to play. During the last several years the government has implemented several projects to uplift education. Free education has been introduced to rural areas, especially provinces where minorities live. Opening of new schools and development of existing schools was a part of this programme. The children of these poor schools were provided with free breakfast.
The state along with 13 other organizations have got together to make this project a success. In addition to this, the state provides incentives to teachers in remote areas to continue teaching in these areas.

"China aims to increase the number of village hotels nationwide to 3.4 M by 2020,"

One of the most important steps taken by the state is the vocational training given to students when they leave school. The emphasis of this education was industrial and connected to agriculture. The students of the western area who entered universities of other areas were given an education which will be much useful when they go back to their villages. Another remarkable step taken by the Chinese Government is the relocation of poor people in good areas. They successfully relocated 3.4 M people from poverty stricken areas to more developed areas.
The introduction of the Tourist Industry to remote areas is another method of increasing the income of rural people. The village areas of China are quite attractive and eco-friendly. These areas are full of fresh vegetables and fruits.The network of high speed trains that spread throughout the country also has helped the tourists to visit the rural areas of China. In some areas where small eating houses operate, they earn more than 200,000 Yuan per year. Today most of them shift from traditional farming to the modern service sector with much higher returns. More than 1.9 million such small hotels are found in rural areas today. In 2016 Tibet had 23 M visitors bringing in a gross income of 33 B Yuan. Over 100,000 herders and farmers were engaged in tourism services in 2016.  International hotel giants such as Hilton, Four seasons and Banyan Tree have entered China’s rural tourism market to grab a share of this lucrative business. Due to tourism over 10 M people have set themselves free from poverty during the last 5 years. China aims to increase the number of village hotels nationwide to 3.4 M by 2020, and also to lift 2M people out of poverty every year using rural tourism. Rural tourism can provide new business opportunities and help preserve beautiful scenery and push forward urbanization.  
 Xi Jinping, the President of China, which has a population 1.4 B had stated that alleviating poverty is his top priority. China has taken great steps to alleviate poverty during the 13th five year plan 2016 – 2020 under the leadership of Xi Jinping.  
His ambition is to eradicate poverty by 2020. He has advised the government to maintain a neconomic growth of 6.5 % in the country, and to achieve that he plans to double the 2010 per capita income by 2020. He has advised the state officials to oversee that funds diverted towards the eradication of poverty are properly used for that purpose. Last year more than 19,000 people across the country were punished for corrupt practices related to the use of poverty alleviation funds, according to the Ministry of Finance.  
The United Nations and the World Bank have commended the efforts taken by China to eradicate poverty. Mr. Bert Hofmann the Director of UN for China, Korea and Mongolia, has written a report to the global poverty reduction programme of UNO in 2016 and has vividly commended the poverty eradication programme of China. According to this report, world poverty has gone down by 70% due to Chinese actions.  Between 1978 and 2016 China has emancipated 800 M of its people from poverty.  It is believed by 2020 China will eradicate poverty and it will be a good example to other countries.  

R. Jinith de Silva,
Vice President, Sri Lanka China Society.