China is determined to continue its offensive against the abject
poverty which continues to blight millions of lives.
And building on its past experience and sinking more funds into
the fight are key, said Liu Jian, the head of the country's poverty
action taskforce on Friday.
The World Bank, which
provided US$427.5 million in loans for the just-concluded China
Southwest and Qinba Mountains Poverty Reduction Projects, has also
pledged its continued support.
By the end of last year, the number of Chinese rural people
lacking adequate food and clothing dropped to 29 million from 250
million in 1978, a feat World Bank President James Wolfensohn
hailed as "having no parallel in human history."
But Chinese leaders are determined that past successes do not
bring about any let up or lead to complacency.
"We must be clearly aware that the country's poverty alleviation
situation remains extremely severe," warned Liu, head of the State
Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and
Development.
Liu was speaking at a gathering in Beijing to mark the
completion of the two projects.
His concerns are not unfounded and the nation's remaining
poverty is widely believed to be deeply entrenched.
The bulk of the poor live in remote and desolate places in the
harshest natural conditions, some virtually uninhabitable, said
Liu.
And natural disasters, which strike at random, have the greatest
impact on those who have just climbed above the poverty line -- in
China those with an annual per capita income not exceeding 625 yuan
(US$75) -- putting them back in dire straits, said Liu.
"As a result, progress in poverty alleviation has markedly
slowed (in recent years)," he added.
A 10-year rural poverty alleviation and development program
which runs until 2010, aims to resolve food and clothing problems
for those in poverty and establish infrastructure to enable the
most destitute regions to rise to moderate prosperity.
The expertise and experience China has accumulated over past
years and gained from foreign countries will help, he said.
World Bank-funded projects had drastically improved food
security and living conditions in 61 of China's poorest parts of
Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan, Sichuan, Shaanxi and Ningxia regions and
provinces.
The projects contributed to developing an effective multi-sector
approach to poverty reduction, involving improved labour mobility,
better poverty monitoring systems, and greater participation of the
poor themselves in project design and implementation, World Bank
President Wolfensohn said in a statement.
Lessons from those ground-breaking projects will be shared in
other poverty alleviation efforts in China, said Jiang Xiaohua,
another official with Liu's office.
With China's economy ever prospering, government at central and
local levels will earmark more funds and mobilize other resources
to tackle the country's poverty woes, said Liu.
But he did not specify how much will be spent next year tackling
it.
This year's budget for poverty relief programs from central
government increased 800 million yuan (US$96 million) year on year
to hit 12.2 billion yuan (US$1.4 billion), according to sources
with Liu's office.
In a congratulatory message sent to Friday's gathering in
Beijing, Vice-Premier Hui
Liangyu said for the most part China needed to rely on its own
efforts to cut poverty. But it would also seek to expand
cooperation with international organizations to that end.
Wolfensohn said the World Bank would continue to work with China
and is preparing the next generation of projects aimed at
eradicating poverty and help bring greater levels of prosperity to
the country.
Alan Piazza, a senior World Bank task manager, on Friday said a
priority of future projects in China will target the poorest and
most remote ethnic minority people.
(China Daily December 18, 2004)