TWELVE years have passed since the UN laid out its ambitious goal to halve the number of people living in poverty. And with less than two years left until the results are in， it looks like the world can congratulate itself early： poverty is on the back foot worldwide.
　　Eradicating poverty is a global challenge that requires global commitment， but the anticipated fulfillment of the U.N.’s Millennium Declaration owes itself in large part to the successes of one country. As CNN wrote last June： “650 million escape extreme poverty. Thanks China！”
　　The World Bank reports that China has lifted more than 600 million people out of poverty since it initiated market reforms in 1978.
　　Statistics from the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs show that over the past two decades China has accounted for 70 percent of the decline in world poverty. “Thanks China，” then， seems pretty spot on.
　　 Poor No More
　　There are a number of measures of poverty alleviation. Over the last 30 years， China attached greater importance to those living in “extreme poverty，”defined as the severe lack of material possessions or money. The World Bank sets the extreme poverty line at US $1.25 a day.
　　According to the Chinese government’s own measurements， which approximate to the World Bank’s definition of extreme poverty， there were 250 million people living in poverty in China in 1978， accounting for 30.7 percent of the total rural population.
　　Since 1978 the poor in China have benefited from land reforms in which the essential unit of land management has transformed from the commune to the individual household. This shift has resulted in dramatically higher crop yields and more money in the pockets of farmers.
　　Nationwide reform and opening-up policies have also promoted integrated economic development. Poverty in rural areas has been further alleviated thanks to farmers’ planting higher value-added crops， and the emergence of non-agricultural industries in the countryside.
　　The results of early reform were remarkable. By domestic estimates， the number of Chinese citizens living in extreme poverty decreased by 17.86 million annually from 1978 to 1985.


　　By the mid-1980s， high-speed economic development highlighted the income gap between China’s poorer inland areas and the more developed eastern coastal regions. In 1986， the government set up a poverty relief department and redefined the poorest counties as those with an annual net income per capita of RMB 206. This shift was accompanied by an expansion of poverty relief measures to include not only monetary support， but also a special poverty relief fund and preferential government policies. In eight short years thereafter， the proportion of the poverty-stricken population in the total rural population fell from 14.8 percent to 8.7 percent. 　　The period 1994-2000 is regarded as having been pivotal in the fight against poverty in China. The country’s poverty alleviation office reported that by the turn of the millennium problems of food and clothing for the rural poor had essentially been solved. In the three years from 1997 to 1999， the population living in poverty had decreased by eight million annually， the office also recorded.
　　The measurement of the national poverty line was subsequently reset， based on a minimum nutrient requirement – 2，100 calories per capita per day， and taking into consideration the consumption structure of the low-income population. The poverty line has since then been redefined on a regular basis according to prices and other factors. Since 2007， the poverty line has risen from RMB 1，067， to RMB 1，196 in 2009， then to RMB 1，274 in 2010.
　　Taking the 2009 poverty line as a benchmark， the population of rural poor fell from 86.45 million in 2002 to 26.88 million in 2010. The proportion of rural poor in the total rural population fell from 9.2 percent to 2.8 percent.
　　In 2011 the poverty line was increased to RMB 2，300 – a dramatic rise over RMB 1，274 the year before. By the end of 2011， 122 million rural people were designated the target of poverty relief programs.
　　Poverty relief programs have been gradually stepped up over the past three decades. And the poor have also benefited from developments in other fields of Chinese society. Infrastructure construction， social undertakings and ecological projects all contribute to improving standards of living. Today， about 90 percent of villages in the country’s most impoverished counties have access to highways， electricity， telephone services， TV and， most important of all， safe drinking water. Meanwhile， a subsistence allowance has been set up in the countryside， and aid programs have been worked out to assist impoverished disabled people. Thanks to these measures， the basic living standards of all rural residents， including the disabled， are guaranteed.
　　In 2012， poverty eradication remains high on the agenda of the Chinese government. Recently the authorities set an outline of the minimum standards of living for the poor to be achieved by 2020. Besides the basics like access to food and clothing， free education， basic medical care and housing， the increase in the per capita net income of farmers in poorer areas is required to be higher than the national average.
　　We are already seeing signs that the rural-urban income divide is narrowing. In the past decade， net rural per capita income and regional GDP per capita in impoverished areas rose faster than the national average – rural per capita net income increased 9.4 percent， 1.3 percent faster than the national average. Regional GDP per capita for impoverished counties averaged a rise of 15.3 percent over the past decade， a staggering 5.1 percent higher than the national average. This performance is in large part thanks to initiatives to optimize the industrial structure of the most impoverished counties and ensure their economies are geared to long term， quality economic growth. 　　 Diversified Poverty Relief


　　Farmers have benefited from tax abatement policies and wide-ranging government subsidies. From 2000 to 2005， agricultural tax and taxes on animal husbandry， specialty products and slaughtering were abolished， relieving a tax burden equivalent to RMB 133.5 billion per year on rural residents. Farmers have enjoyed direct subsidies based on grain acreage， and have been compensated for the rising prices of chemical fertilizers， pesticides， diesel and other inputs.
　　Farmers have been granted subsidies to encourage them to adopt higher-yielding crop varieties and the latest technology in farming machinery. Over the decade from 2001 to 2011， such subsidies amounted to RMB 143.9 billion.
　　The government has increased investment in rural infrastructure and public services by a substantial amount. Helping emerging industries start producing competitively priced goods has further increased farmers’ incomes.
　　Against a background of subsidies and industry assistance， environmental protection has been consistently emphasized. The environment is a system： a delicate balance between population， resources and sustainable ecological rejuvenation. Breaking or over-exploiting any one step in the cycle can be disastrous for the entire ecosystem.
　　In terms of sheer numbers， from 2001 through 2010 126，000 villages have benefited from poverty relief-oriented subsidies and other policies. Since 2010， another 30，000 impoverished villages have come under assistance. Assistance measures have broadened to include technology transfer， vocational training， direct industry support and financial assistance.
　　Since 2009， increasing numbers of scientists have been sent to impoverished regions to teach， demonstrate and promote more efficient farming techniques.
　　From 2000 a number of established brands have emerged from countryside locales， greatly contributing to local development. Many of these have become pillar industries that provide employment in villages outside of the farmers’ fields. Farmers’ incomes have indirectly benefited.
　　Starting in 2004， many kinds of training programs have been carried out in impoverished areas in order to break the intergenerational transmission of poverty. Programs include vocational training， small business management and technical skill upgrading， and all are subsidized to the tune of RMB 600 to RMB 1，500 per person. 　　The government has also been providing financial incentives for children from poorer families to attend higher or secondary vocational training programs after graduating from high school. Subsidies for such programs amount to RMB 1，500 per person per year.
　　Other priorities include helping farmers specialize， offering them financial and technical support， diversifying villages’ production bases， assisting leading industries， developing higher value-added processing industries and promoting cooperation between farmers in order to expand their markets.
　　Since 2001， the Poverty Relief Office of the State Council， along with the Ministry of Finance， the People’s Bank of China and the China Banking Regulatory Commission have provided farmers with preferential interest rates for on-the-spot loans， microcredit and project-targeted loans.
　　From 2002 to 2011， the central budget earmarked interest subsidies of RMB 5.445 billion and loans of RMB 230 billion for poverty relief. From 2006 to 2011， the government issued RMB 150，000 for each of the 16，300 impoverished villages in 1，141 counties as aid for expanding production.
　　Anlong County in Guizhou Province is one region that had previously suffered endemic poverty. But thanks to subsidies and other poverty relief programs， Anlong residents can look forward to a brighter future. Six hundred rural households in 12 townships have benefited from an innovation fund， for instance. Initially， RMB 3 million was raised as principal for a loan of RMB 30 million – a 1/10 debt ratio， the likes of which are only available under the government’s poverty relief program. A government-backed preferential interest rate has also saved villagers RMB 400，000 in interest payments. The loan has been used in Anlong County to boost grassland ecological animal husbandry and intro-duce mechanized vegetable crop harvesting. Only with such a targeted capital injection could Anlong break the cycle of poverty.
　　 Poverty Relief for a New Era
　　The Development-orientated Poverty Alleviation Program in Rural China （2001-2010） outlines the battle ahead in eradicating poverty from the Chinese countryside.
　　Fan Xiaojian， vice chief and office director of the Leading Group for Poverty Alleviation and Development of the State Council， remarked that in the coming decade， essentially eliminating extreme poverty would be China’s top priority. He said investing more capital in， and adopting improved anti-poverty mea- sures towards， areas of endemic poverty constituted the government’s main policy tools in the fight. 　　Huade County in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has traditionally suffered from endemic poverty. In 2011 Huade was designated as a county in the “contiguous poor area” of the Yanshan-Taihang Mountains. In Huade， 30，000 residents， or 27 percent of the county’s total population， lived below the poverty line. Additionally， many young people had left for richer areas of the country to seek out employment opportunities. As a result， only 40 percent of the registered population lives in the county， 26 percent of whom are over the age of 60.
　　An investigation conducted by the national cadre training center for poorer areas revealed that around 40 percent of villages in Huade County suffered from inadequate living conditions， while the relatively small working-age population exacerbated already endemic poverty.
　　One subsequent initiative by the county government has been to develop larger central villages to combine the resources of surrounding “empty villages.” Large investments have been made to improve agricultural infrastructure and public facilities. Villagers from outlying regions have been encouraged to relocate to the central villages， and the subsequent pooling of the labor force has resulted in economies of scale.
　　To date， more than 2，000 rural residents from 64 outlying villages with 30 households or fewer have been merged into 30 central villages.
　　Rural residents of working age are encouraged to seek employment in the county town. Industry in the county seat has been invigorated， providing over 30，000 jobs. Five pillar industries dominate： clothing， heavy chemicals， wind power， mineral products development， and processing of agricultural and livestock products.
　　The county government has invested RMB 12.5 million in various vocational training programs， such as group training， company-sponsored， occupation-specific training， and relocation orientation programs. Over 16，500 people have attended these programs free of charge. Over 95 percent of relocated farmers and herders have subsequently found employment locally.
　　Of the villagers in Huade County， 16，000 are over 60 years of age or disabled due to illness or injury， accounting for 26.4 percent of permanent rural residents. Many suffered poor social lives or were lonely， their children having moved to faraway cities. In order to improve their quality of life， the local government has invested in mutual assistance compounds in central villages. Residents of the compounds live in close-knit communities， in which the more abled help out the less abled， and all enjoy a wide range of social activities. 　　In 2012， RMB 55 million was invested in opening 22 such community compounds， and 3，600 elderly from 1，584 households have moved into these homes.
　　The situation of the elderly in Huade is somewhat typical of a broader national trend. As the young seek work in the cities， rural parents increasingly live in“empty nests.” It is estimated 260 million farmers now work in cities， leaving their parents in the countryside. Mutual assistance compounds go some way to relieving the social fallout from a depopulating countryside.
　　Many other goals are hoped to be achieved before 2020， all of which aim to narrow the gap between living standards in the countryside and the city. These include protecting farmland from developers， improving rural education， continuing to set up key pillar industries， improving healthcare and social security， developing forestry and paying more attention to ecological concerns. By 2020， China can look forward to bidding farewell to poverty once and for all.