Jiangxi lays plans to lift all residents from poverty

Jiangxi province expects to lift all its residents out of poverty before 2018 as the provincial government plans to further intensify its poverty relief efforts during the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20), the provincial governor has said.

Lu Xinshe, governor of Jiangxi, said during the 12th Plenary Meeting of the Communist Party of China Jiangxi Committee on Monday, that the provincial government aims to improve the living standards of its 2.76 million registered residents who live under the poverty line and lift them out of poverty by 2018.

The provincial government will take a string of measures, including industry support, labor immigration and education, and infrastructure construction in the poverty-stricken areas to strengthen poverty relief.

According to the State statistics bureau's data from 2014, the rural poverty line in China was 2,800 yuan ($438) per year.

The province's target to eliminate poverty before 2018 is two years ahead of the national target, which is to eliminate poverty in rural areas and defeat regional poverty by 2020.

Lu said that the province will focus its efforts in its poverty-stricken counties, most of which are located in mountainous areas near Luoxiao Mountain.

"We will push forward equalized public service in the poverty-stricken areas, and establish a system of responsibility that ensures the top Party and government officials will be in charge of poverty relief," he said.

Lu said the province will lift 700,000 people out of poverty through industry support, 300,000 people through immigration measures and another 320,000 people through labor education. The provincial authority will also improve the minimum living allowance of another 1.44 million people to lift them out of poverty.

Qiang Wei, the Party chief of Jiangxi province, said in a work report during the plenary meeting that the economic development of the province still faces downward pressure, and that innovation capacity of businesses is still far from strong.

"The task of economic transformation and upgrading is still difficult and reform is facing strong resistance as it touches upon deep interests and systematic conflicts," he said.

Lu said the province will try to maintain economic growth higher than the national average during the 13th Five-Year Plan, as the province still lags behind the national level in terms of per capita GDP.

It will also prioritize new industrialization during the next five years, and push forward the development of modern agriculture and service sectors, he said.

To implement a development strategy driven by innovation, the province will further increase its investments in innovation.

By the end of 2020, investments in science and development of society will take up more than 2 percent of the provincial GDP.

There are also forecast to be eight patents per 10,000 people in the province, another indicator of high-level innovation.

The province will also try to seize opportunities provided by national strategies, including the Belt and Road Initiative and the Yangtze River Economic Belt strategy, to further increase its opening-up and level of foreign investment utilization.

Jiangxi will also implement a new method of urbanization during the next five years as it targets a total of 5.5 million rural residents relocating to urban areas by 2020, Lu said.

The province will ensure rural residents better integrate into urban life through the residential permit system and other measures, including a measure that only approves land for real estate development once local authorities ensure enough rural residents have relocated to the cities.

Infrastructure is another priority for the provincial government over the next five years, he said.

Seven new railway lines will be completed during the period, taking the total railway length to 5,000 kilometers, including 2,500 kilometers of high-speed railway lines. The length of expressways will also be increased to 6,000 kilometers by 2020, Lu said.

The province will also add 15 million kilowatt-hours in power generation capacity, and the percentage of solar energy, wind power and hydropower in its energy structure will be significantly improved. It will also beef up the infrastructure for broadband network, mobile Internet, big data and cloud computing to lay the groundwork for the further development of information technology in the province.

Regarding ecology and environmental protection, the province plans to restore ecosystems in mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands and lakes during the next five years, Lu added.

shixiaofeng@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 11/27/2015 page17)