China is expected to set up a special industrial fund to boost
its poverty reduction efforts, according to sources attending a
symposium on the sustained development in the country's
poverty-stricken areas.
The poverty reduction fund was proposed by the China Association
for Poverty Alleviation and Development, but there's no timetable
yet as to when it will be launched, said the association's vice
president Tian Ruizhang.
Tian said their application has been submitted to the government
and is being reviewed.
"China has made great achievements in poverty reduction but the
biggest obstacle in this endeavor is lack of fund," he told the
ongoing symposium in Tianjin.
Between 2001 and 2005, China's central coffer arranged 57.2
billion yuan (US$7.15 billion) of poverty relief fund, with an
annual increase of 6.45 percent.
"This is utterly insufficient for the huge poverty-stricken
population, which stood at 23.65 million in the rural areas at the
end of last year," Tian told Xinhua in an exclusive interview
Sunday.
Nor is there enough fund from China's financial institutions, he
said. "None of the four big state-owned commercial banks has a
branch in the needy areas."
An industrial fund for poverty reduction purposes would
therefore be an effective way to raise funds for the benefits of
the poverty-stricken population and the investors alike, as it is
expected to yield higher returns, said Tian.
(Xinhua News Agency May 15, 2006)