Poverty alleviation in China: scale, strategy, debate

CHINA'S antipoverty campaign stands as a pivotal social transformation of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

- SESONA MDLOKOVANA

From the late 1970s to the early 2020s, China successfully lifted approximately 770-800 million people out of extreme poverty, surpassing the UN’s poverty-reduction goals ahead of schedule. This achievement represents the vast majority of its population being raised above extreme-poverty thresholds since the initiation of reforms.

How China did it

China’s approach to poverty alleviation has been multifaceted and evolving. Initially, rapid economic growth from the 1980s provided the necessary resources for significant social investments. From the 2010s, the focus shifted to “targeted poverty alleviation.”

This strategy involved identifying specific households, creating personalised assistance packages (including cash transfers, job opportunities, and support for health and education), and meticulously tracking outcomes at the village and household levels.

This micro-targeting was complemented by broader initiatives such as infrastructure development (roads, electricity, drinking water), promotion of rural industries, and relocation programmes for populations in environmentally vulnerable or remote areas.

The Rural Revitalisation programme marks a more recent phase, redefining poverty eradication as the initial stride towards sustainable rural development.