Current location:opinions >>
Poverty eradication with Chinese characteristics
opinions85People have gathered around
IntroductionBy Paul Tembe (People's Daily Online) 14:41, January 11, 2023The People’s Republic of China (PRC) ha ...
The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has attained an unprecedented historical feat by achieving Goal 1 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Goal 1 of the SDGs enjoins countries to end all forms of poverty. The PRC eradicated absolute poverty 10 years before the 2030 cut-off date. Goal 1 has the explicit aim to “End poverty in all its forms everywhere”. This SDG goal builds targets on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to reduce the proportion of people subsisting daily on less than $1.25 (about R19), and provide decent work, especially for women and the youth.
Using these targets, the PRC has set a new global benchmark by declaring “complete victory” in poverty eradication, more so for China’s rural citizens and communities.
In February 2021, the same year that the Communist Party of China (CPC) was celebrating its 100th anniversary, President Xi Jinping proclaimed that the final 98.99 million impoverished rural residents living under the current poverty line have all been lifted out of poverty. All 832 impoverished counties and 128,000 villages have also been removed from the poverty list.
The criteria used by the PRC relied on “two assurances and three guarantees”. The two assurances centred on producing policies, measured constantly for their impact, that provides adequate food and clothing for impoverished rural residents.
This was supplemented with access to non-negotiable basic medical service, nine years of compulsory education and safe housing.
In addition, absolute poverty eradication was attained via public delivery of infrastructure, ensuring rural areas had access to 1.1 million km of reconstructed highways.
These rural areas were capacitated with optical fibre communications (OFC) and 4G technology covering 98 percent of the rural areas. These achievements were the total outcome from the 1978 opening up and reform process.
Former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping was decisive in leading the battle against poverty by introducing agrarian reforms. To be effective, these early reforms built on improving infrastructure to reform and revolutionise agricultural sectors.
This required sufficient investment in irrigation, drainage systems, road infrastructure and internet access to connect farmers to markets, encouraging service sectors to invest in rural areas, and in the process generating employment opportunities in rural areas.
The PRC’s experience is a model to the world about what is possible when there is in a country (i) decisive leadership, (ii) uninterrupted legal and policy continuity, (iii) bottom-up people’s empowerment, (iv) solid intergovernmental relations and private sector partnerships, and (v) leveraging contextual circumstances (in geography, politics, technology, etc).
All these factors have coalesced and translated into “poverty eradication with Chinese characteristics”. China eliminated absolute poverty and hunger by making widely available distance education, making sure that impoverished rural areas had OFC and so had access to telemedicine and e-commerce.
It is not inconceivable for South Africa to replicate the Chinese model of ending poverty in all its forms. What is needed is bold decisive leadership that transcends ideological party affiliation and focuses on realising one goal.
Second, is to empower citizens with the tools for their own liberation so that they aren’t mainly dependent on social grants. Third, the involvement of the private sector is irreplaceable in mobilising a whole-of-society approach.
As China deservedly celebrates ending poverty in all its forms in the PRC, there is still more to be done. As President Xi said, "Being lifted out of poverty is not an end in itself but the starting point of a new life and a new pursuit."
Paul Tembe is a South African expert on China.
Tags:
Reprint:Friends are welcome to share on the Internet, but please indicate the source of the article when reprinting it.“Culture Quest news portal”。http://cambodia.soorot.com/article-29e599921.html
Related articles
Storms damage homes in Oklahoma and Kansas. But in Houston, most power is restored
opinionsWICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Fast-moving storms with strong winds, large hail and apparent tornadoes swept O ...
【opinions】
Read moreInside Britain's most northerly hotel in the Shetland Islands
opinionsListening to the wind howl and watching the rain lash against my window in my little room at the Bal ...
【opinions】
Read moreHow to fly long
opinionsEveryone has a different theory on how to survive long-haul flights – but not all of them stand up t ...
【opinions】
Read more
Popular articles
- Travis Kelce downs whiskey shot on slice of bread at Kelce Jam without Taylor Swift
- US President Joe Biden hits back at special counsel over secret files probe
- REVEALED: The eye
- Plane passenger is left horrified by canoodling couple who spent entire four
- Siblings trying to make US water polo teams for Paris Olympics
- Millions of transparent blob
Latest articles
Analysis: Larson enters conversation with Verstappen as best drivers in the world
Pictured: The railway in Britain that's Europe's shortest line
Meet the 'AIRLINE nepo baby': 23
The city break that'll bring even the surliest of teens to life: Inside Washington DC
Why US Catholics are planning pilgrimages in communities across the nation
REVEALED: The VERY strict 'decorum rules' that passengers aboard NUDE cruise have to follow
LINKS
- Car dealership to cut 250 jobs and close 16 sites just months after being taken over by a US firm
- With lawsuits in rearview mirror, Disney World government gets back to being boring
- Election 2024: Puerto Rico Republicans award Trump all 23 delegates
- Blinken begins key China visit as tensions rise over new US foreign aid bill
- West Virginia says it will appeal ruling that allowed transgender teen athlete to compete
- A great escape! Family poodle gets trapped underneath kitchen
- Primary voters take down at least 2 incumbents in Pennsylvania House
- For them the war really is over! WW2 prisoner
- How YOU can lower your council tax by challenging it
- Parents' fury after trans supply teacher explained their gender identity to seven