Road map to winning battle against poverty in 3 years

By Wang Jianfen and Guo Kai | chinadaily.com.cn Updated: Aug 22, 2018

Li Min/China Daily

The Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council has released a guideline on winning the battle against poverty in the next three years to prepare the nation for eradicating poverty by 2020. The guideline contains a series of targets and promises. Let's have a look.

General goal

---- Poverty relief standards

Poor population should be guaranteed food and clothing and children from poor families should be guaranteed nine-year compulsory education. Basic medical needs and living conditions of poor population should also be guaranteed.

"I am a happy farmer" is written on a banner in a tea garden in Jinhua Village of Meitan County, Southwest China's Guizhou province, July 22, 2018. [Photo/Xinhua]

---- 30m people to be lifted out of poverty in 3 years

It is an arduous task to lift a further 30 million people out of poverty in the next three years. Among these people are those who are ill or suffer from handicaps.

By 2020, all rural residents below current poverty standards should be lifted out of poverty, and absolute poverty will be eliminated. All poverty-stricken counties will shake off poverty.

The average disposable income per capita of rural residents in poverty-stricken regions should increase faster than the national average. Major indicators of basic public services in poverty-stricken regions should be close to the national average.

Siyo Tsenga and his son Tagyal head to their new house in a settlement in Doilungdechen district in Lhasa, Tibet autonomous region. [Photo by PALDEN NYIMA/CHINA DAILY]

People's livelihood goals

---- Housing

The remaining 3.9 million people should be lifted out of poverty through relocation that includes proper housing.

Besides, rural houses should be reinforced and renovated based on local conditions. In provinces having a large number of dilapidated houses, improved traditional houses could be promoted on the basis of local practices, encouraging idle house exchanges and long-term lease to solve housing safety of special groups among the impoverished.

A doctor checks residents' health files at a resettlement community at Zhangzhuang township of Fanxian county, Central China's Henan province, Nov 1, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

---- Medicare

All the impoverished will be covered by the basic medical insurances for urban and rural residents, critical illness insurance programs and medical assistance. More support will be given to patients who still have difficulties in paying their part of the medical fees.

Each township health center in poverty-stricken areas should have at least one general practitioner. These areas can recruit medical personnel directly from the talent market, and priority should be given to talents for whom the local medical sector is in urgent need.

Students attend a class at a primary school in Gaotai village in Funan county, Anhui province. [Photo/IC]

---- Education

Students in poverty should be registered to prevent them from dropping out of school.

Authorities will improve pay and benefits for rural teachers in poor areas, implement living subsidy policies and balance the arrangement of teacher resources between urban and rural areas.

Funds for outstanding teachers in poor areas are encouraged to be established through donations.

Photo taken on Nov 1, 2017, shows a road in Sanli township of Shanglin county, South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. By the end of 2017, the mileage of rural road reached 98,373 kilometers in Guangxi. [Photo/Xinhua]

---- Transportation

By 2020, the transportation network in rural areas should be enlarged to fulfill the goal of bus routes connecting all villages.

More transfer payments from the reform of taxes and fees for refined petroleum products should be used for maintenance of rural roads. Push ahead the national railway network and highway network construction to connect poor areas, and facilitate the renovation of national- and provincial-level roads, and the construction of airports and inland waterways.

Authorities should push the courier industry to include villages, improve the logistics distribution system in poor rural areas, and strengthen the cold chain facilities construction at production bases for local agricultural products.

Zhong Sheng, a forest ranger, marks a tree on the Loess Plateau. [Photo by Wang Hong/For China Daily]

---- Environment

By 2020, 400,000 impoverished people will be recruited as ecological forest rangers and grassland guards. The compensation mechanism for ecological protection should be improved, offering more benefits for poor counties, villages and households that protect the environment.

Special operations should be carried out to clean up household garbage in poor rural areas, and explore ways to establish a cleanup system in villages. Sanitary toilets should be promoted according to local conditions and carry out treatment of fecal pollution. Areas could develop domestic sewage treatment.

An employee connects electrical cables atop a 30-meter-high, 110 kV power transmission tower in the Tibet autonomous region. [Photo by Song Weixing/For China Daily]

---- Power and telecom networks

Major national power grids should cover all county seats across the country by 2020.

Via compensation policy, encourage telecom companies to invest more to reach broadband coverage of more than 90 percent of poverty-stricken villages. Telecom carriers are encouraged to provide preferential policies to impoverished groups.

Rural e-commerce service stations shall be built in poverty-stricken counties at higher priority than other areas. China will mobilize major e-commerce companies and counties that are strong in e-commerce to help poor counties establish poverty relief online channels.

Zhang Lin (2L), Party chief of Chiping county, talks with local officials in Qianfu village, Jiazhai township, Chiping county, Shandong province, Aug 14, 2018. [Photo/IC]

Rewards and penalties

---- County Party chief

Provinces and cities should improve their measures of evaluating officials at county level and below in poverty reduction, and the evaluation should not be more than twice a year. They should enhance evaluation for county Party chiefs.

China will improve the mechanism to summon provincial leaders for a meeting on poverty relief. A regular meeting should be set up. Talks could be arranged at any time when problems happen.

Li Hualiang, Party chief of Machang, a village in the northeastern city of Changchun in Jilin province, talks with his colleagues. [Photo By Wang Lina/For China Daily]

---- Village Party chief

Local authorities should prevent feudal family forces, local gangsters and illegal religious activities from encroaching on grassroots political power and interfering with or destroying village affairs.

Counties should make great efforts to rectify the weak and lax Party organizations in poverty-stricken villages. They should resolutely dismiss village Party chiefs who are incompetent, unqualified or unconscientious.

Huang Shuyu, left, a poverty relief official stationed at the village, checks the health of a rabbit with Luo Longhua, a rabbit raiser, in Luojia village, Ganzhu township, Guangchang county, Jiangxi province on Aug 9, 2018. [Photo/IC]

---- Official promotions

Chiefs of county Party committees and governments who achieve poverty relief goals on time shall be appointed to important positions, and other poverty relief officials and grassroots officials with good performances will be promoted.

Authorities shall fully carry out policies concerning government subsidies and allowances, as well as preferential housing policies, for officials who work at the frontline of poverty relief work. Authorities shall fully implement pay and subsidy policies for poverty-stricken village officials and former village officials leaving posts under normal conditions.

Scenery of Wuchuan county in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, Aug 20, 2018. [Photo/IC]

---- Special inspections

Authorities shall reduce workload of grassroots officials, cut number of data tables filled out by villages and cut short documents for meetings, so as to guide grassroots officials to focus on practical matters.

Officials will be seriously punished for corruption, embezzlement, fraudulent or predatory behavior.

Central inspection authorities will arrange special patrols in the poverty relief sector. Inspectors will focus on corruption and work and ethical style issues.