China is running a winning race against its poverty

As China rings in the New Year, it is racing against the clock to fulfill a promise that its leadership has proclaimed to the world: getting at least 10 million impoverished rural residents out of their situation, which translates to nearly 1 million people per month, or 20 every minute.

There were 43.35 million Chinese living below the national poverty line of 2,300 yuan ($354) in annual income at the end of 2016. The country has pledged to eliminate poverty by 2020, so that would mean ending poverty for about 10 million people a year.

There are plenty of numbers and while some can be mind-numbing, they can also be heart-warming in the news they convey.

Take a line from a poem evoked by Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday in his New Year Address.

"How I wish I could have 10,000 houses to provide shelter for all who need it," the president said, quoting Chinese poet Du Fu from the Tang Dynasty (618-907), and adding that in 2017, 3.4 million people were relocated from poverty-stricken areas and now live in warm new housing.

In the speech, the president reiterated that lifting all of China's rural impoverished population out of poverty by current standards is a solemn commitment that will be honored. "After three years, we will win the final phase of the war on poverty. This will be the first time in thousands of years of Chinese history that extreme poverty has been eliminated," Xi said.

Poverty reduction was also a theme of Xi's speech at the landmark 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China on Oct 18, and one of the top tasks assigned for the coming three years at a central economic work conference last month.

In China, the government's role in poverty relief is most evident in mapping out national poverty reduction programs.

Following the country's first such plan in 1994, which aimed to get 80 million rural residents out of poverty in seven years through 2000, China has initiated two consecutive national poverty relief programs, each lasting for a decade, for the years from 2001 through 2020.

In December 2016, it further released a special five-year plan to ramp up poverty alleviation efforts.

It's safe to say that one of the most inspiring lessons in China's poverty relief is its practice of setting timetables and mobilizing resources to live up to the strategies.

The plans ensure the policies and priorities are geared to what should be accomplished in each specific phase, and appropriate funds are allocated for the tough job, without being diverted elsewhere.

The past four years alone have seen China pool 196.1 billion yuan for poverty relief, with an annual growth of 19 percent. In the past five years, more than 60 million people were helped out of poverty, thus reducing the country's poverty rate from 10.2 percent to less than 4 percent, according to official statistics.

A targeted inspection on the use and management of poverty relief funds in 28 regions from March to May 2017 retrieved 730 million yuan of misused poverty-reduction funds, and nearly 450 people have been investigated and punished for fraudulent claims or misappropriation of funds, Xinhua reported on Saturday, citing sources from the Ministry of Finance and the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development.

While the elimination of poverty has long been regarded as a major task for humanity, until now it has been deemed a utopian dream, said Bill Jones, Washington bureau chief of Economic Intelligence Review.

Globally, more than 800 million people are still living on less than $1.25 a day, many lacking access to adequate food, clean drinking water or adequate sanitation, according to the United Nations Development Programme.

"With China that dream is now becoming a reality, and has created a tremendous amount of optimism that it can also be eliminated globally," Jones told China Daily.

Interestingly, a recent survey by the Pew Research Center found that a majority in the US say the government should have a "major role" in such issues as helping lift people out of poverty.

Currently, 67 percent say the government should have a major role in addressing poverty, up from 55 percent two years ago, according to a poll released by the Pew Research Center on Dec 14.

Contact the writer at huanxinzhao@chinadailyusa.com