SCIO briefing on white paper 'Poverty Alleviation: China's Experience and Contribution'
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E-mail China.org.cn, April 13, 2021
Xinhua News Agency:
My question is for Mr. Xu. In the past eight years, we have lifted nearly 100 million rural poor out of extreme poverty. Why was China able to achieve this? The white paper has offered much information, but what do you think is the most important reason? What experience have we gained for eliminating extreme poverty? Thank you.
Xu Lin:
Thank you for your question. The main reason behind China's success in eliminating extreme poverty is the six experiences introduced by Mr. Wang just now. The most important of all, I think, is that the Communist Party of China cares for the people. From the Party leader to ordinary Party officials, we all put people first.
For the past century, one generation of Party members after another have made continuous efforts toward the goal of seeing that the people can live a good life. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has prioritized poverty elimination in state governance and mobilized the whole Party and the whole country to engage in the battle against poverty.
Soon after the 18th CPC National Congress, General Secretary Xi Jinping visited Fuping in Hebei province to inspect development-driven poverty alleviation work there. During the visit, Xi clarified the relationship between eliminating extreme poverty and building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and mobilized the whole Party and the whole country to work hard to win the battle against poverty.
General Secretary Xi Jinping was always concerned with impoverished regions and families in straitened circumstances, has always put poverty alleviation at the top of his work agenda and devoted much energy to it. He has assumed leadership, made plans, and directed the battle in person, and called meetings to hear reports and make plans at every critical stage of the battle. He has presided over seven central seminars on poverty elimination and made over 50 fact-finding trips, giving important instructions clarifying the direction of poverty alleviation.
He has visited every one of the 14 contiguous poor areas across the country and over 20 poor villages, and sat in impoverished households to hear of their difficulties, suggestions and needs.
You may still remember moving scenes in many news reports. For example, in Yuangudui village, Dingxi city of Gansu province, General Secretary Xi walked into a low and poorly-lit rural home and took a drink of water from a water vat by the wall with a gourd ladle to taste the quality of water the villagers were drinking.
In Zhangzhuang village, Lankao county, Henan province, holding the hand of villager Zhang Jingzhi, General Secretary Xi looked at the 85-years-old's kitchen and bedroom. He also chatted with the family to learn about their grain output, whether they had received agricultural subsidies and if they were covered by subsistence allowances and medical insurances.
General Secretary Xi's visits to the poor, his fact-finding trips and the plans he has made all embody the deep love of the people's leader for the poor, and have warmed their hearts, roused their enthusiasm to fight poverty and greatly boosted the confidence and morale of the whole Party and the whole country to win the battle against poverty.
Poverty alleviation is a battle without smoke. On this battlefield, Party officials have dedicated themselves with great zeal, fulfilled their promises with actions and took great pains and even sacrificed their lives in exchange for the happiness of the poor. Here, I would give the examples of two ordinary Party officials.
The first example is Jiang Haiquan, who was sent by the National Audit Office to serve as the first secretary of Jiashi village in Qiandongnan Miao and Dong autonomous prefecture, Guizhou province. When he arrived at the village, initially the villagers respectfully stayed out of his way because they thought that Jiang, having previously worked in a ministry in the big city of Beijing, would have no idea of the general situation in such a mountain village. However, Jiang visited the villagers to get to understand what problems they were facing, listened to their opinions, and helped them one by one. Gradually, the villagers accepted and respected him very much. When his two-year term was about to expire, all of the villagers jointly signed a petition marked with their thumbprints, hoping that he would continue to work in the village. He also couldn't bear to leave, so decided to work in the village for another two years. His daughter was only 3 years old when Jiang left for the village to help with the poverty alleviation; by the time he returned home, she was already in elementary school. His daughter missed her father but was sensitive for her age, saying that although her father hadn't come back home to accompany her to Children's Day for three years, she had her father's letters and promise that he would come back when the children in the mountain village lived a happy life like her.
Another example is Yang Ning, secretary of the Party branch and head of the village committee of Jiangmen village in Rongshui Miao autonomous county, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. She graduated from Guangxi University in 2010 and before applying to work as a village official in her hometown, becoming an assistant to the village director. She has devoted herself to helping lift the villagers out of poverty, working to change her hometown. As a member of the Miao ethnic group herself, she explored ways of poverty alleviation with her fellow Miao villagers and finally found a way to increase people's income by developing high mountain ecological agriculture. Worrying about her hometown fellows who had not yet completely escaped poverty, she decided to stay in the village even after her two consecutive terms had expired. In 2017, she was elected as the head of the village committee with a high approval rating. Now, with 326 poor farmers in 94 households in Jiangmen village having been lifted out of poverty, poverty has been eradicated. Yang Ning said that everyone has ideals and dreams and her dream is to use the knowledge she has learned to help the Miao people out of poverty and toward prosperity.
These grassroots cadres and poverty relief workers are ordinary people, and what they have done may seem trivial but is very pragmatic. It is these grassroots cadres, poverty relief workers, and CPC members who are the powerful forces of winning the battle against poverty. Thank you.
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