Reform and Innovation

Ⅱ. Reform and Innovation
【Establishing the poverty alleviation responsibility system】General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee Xi Jinping pointed out at the central poverty alleviation and development conference that the key to poverty reduction is responsibility implementation. We must accelerate the establishment of the poverty alleviation and development mechanism whereby the central government makes overall plans, provincial-level governments take overall responsibility, and city and county governments ensure implementation, make clear the division of labor and the responsibilities and tasks, carry out performance assessment, not only make relevant departments fulfill their duties, but also achieve coordinated operation and close collaboration. The“Decision”also explicitly requires strengthening the leadership responsibility system for poverty alleviation.
In October 2016, the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council issued the“Measures for the Implementation of the Poverty Alleviation Responsibility System”, clearly proposed to establish a responsibility system characterized with clear duties and close collaboration according to the requirements of central government for establishing the working mechanism whereby the central government makes overall plans, provincial-level governments take overall responsibility, and city and county governments ensure implementation, and made arrangements and deployments on the implementation of the poverty alleviation responsibility system in terms of the central overall planning, provincial responsibility, city and county-level implementation, cooperation in key problem tackling, rewards and punishments, etc. The 22 central and western provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities) are required to develop the implementation rules based on local situation in accordance with the“Measures”. Other provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) shall be governed by analogy. In April 2016, the Organization Department of CPC Central Committee and the LGOP issued the“Notice on Keeping Chief Party and Government Officials of Poor Counties Unchanged in the Poverty Reduction Period”, and clearly stipulated that the chief party and government officials of poor counties shall not be transferred in principle until they accomplish the anti-poverty task, and they should be kept on the working position for a certain period of time even after the relevant counties shake off poverty. The organization departments and poverty alleviation departments of the provincial-level party committees should attach great importance to anti-poverty work, make it a discipline not to adjust or transfer the chief officials until we accomplish the anti-poverty task, and keep the chief party and government officials of poor counties unchanged to provide a strong organizational guarantee for winning the battle against poverty. 
After the central poverty alleviation work conference was convened, local main party and government leaders served as heads of the leading groups for poverty alleviation and development, the party committees and governments of 22 central and western provinces signed letters of responsibility to the central government and promised to accomplish the anti-poverty work. Leaders of provinces, cities, counties, towns and villages all signed the letters of responsibility, creating the situation of poverty alleviation in the charge of party secretaries at five levels. The chief party and government officials of 832 poor counties were kept unchanged during the period of poverty reduction. LGOP guided local governments to formulate the rolling planning and annual plan for poverty alleviation, and signed the annual letter of responsibility for poverty reduction with various provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities). The establishment of the poverty alleviation responsibility system provides a strong political and organization guarantee for winning the battle against poverty, makes provincial governments undertake the responsibility of targeted poverty alleviation as they understand local poverty situation best, and empowered the counties, towns and villages to implement targeted poverty reduction measures independently, creating a good system environment for improving the accuracy and effectiveness of poverty alleviation. Deepened the east-west cooperation in poverty reduction, adjusted the twinning relations, achieved the full coverage of 30 minority autonomous prefectures nationwide, and strengthened the fixed-point poverty alleviation work of central units. The army and armed police forces actively supported the local anti-poverty work. Trade unions, the Communist Youth League, women’s federations and the federations of disabled persons all increased efforts in reducing poverty. The central enterprises promoted the action in 100 counties and 10,000 villages, and private enterprises were organized to get involved in the targeted poverty alleviation action for 10,000 enterprises to help 10,000 villages. Carried out the model selecting, awarding and commending activities for poverty alleviation, highly commended those making outstanding contributions to poverty reduction, and held talks with the leaders of the regions with prominent problems in poverty alleviation. 
(Cao Zhenhua, Department of General Affairs,
State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development)  
【Establishing the poverty exit mechanism】 The establishment of the poverty exit mechanism is China’s major reform to poverty alleviation and development and an important part of the implementation of targeted poverty alleviation. It is of great significance to ensuring the withdrawal on time and the quality of withdrawal and winning the battle against poverty. The“Decision of the Central Committee of the CPC and the State Council on Winning the Battle against Poverty”clearly proposed to“establish the mechanism of identifying whether the poor households have shaken off poverty”, and“promptly formulate strict, standardized and transparent national poor county exit standards, procedures and verification methods”. 
To implement the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, in accordance with the arrangements of the State Council Leading Group of Poverty Alleviation and Development, LGOP carried out special research on the withdrawal of poor population, impoverished villages and poverty-stricken counties, prepared the“Opinions on the Establishment of Poverty-stricken County Exit Mechanism (Draft for Comments)”, and solicited in a written form the opinions of the provincial (autonomous regional, municipal) leading groups of poverty alleviation and development and the member units of the State Council Leading Group of Poverty Alleviation and Development. The Eighth Plenary Meeting of the State Council Leading Group of Poverty Alleviation and Development deliberated and agreed in principle the“Opinions on the Establishment of Poverty-stricken County Exit Mechanism (Draft for Discussion)”. On March 22, 2016, the Twenty-second Meeting of the Central Leading Group for Comprehensive Deepening of Reform deliberated and agreed it in principle. On April 23, the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council issued the“Opinions on the Establishment of Poverty Exit Mechanism”(hereinafter referred to as“Opinion”), which was published by the Xinhua news agency on April 28. The“Opinions”clearly defined the exit standards and procedures for poor population, impoverished villages and poverty-stricken counties, and put forward the work requirements. The withdrawal of poor people takes household as a unit, and the main benchmark is that the household’s annual per capita net income is steadily above the national poverty standard, and the household does not need to worry about food and clothing, with guaranteed compulsory education, basic medical care and housing security. The withdrawal of a poor household must be proposed by the“two committees”of the village after democratic appraisal, verified by the“two committees”of the village and the village-stationed working team, accepted by the poor household that is going to withdraw, announced after publicity in the village without demur, and marked in the file of the registered poor. Poverty rate is the main measurement standard for the withdrawal of an impoverished village, and we should also take into account the village’s infrastructure, basic public service, industrial development and collective economic income. In principle, when the incidence of poverty of an impoverished village drops to less than 2% (below 3% in the western region) and it is announced in the town without demur, the withdrawal of an impoverished village shall be allowed. Poor counties include the key counties for national poverty alleviation and development and the counties in contiguous destitute areas. Taking the incidence of poverty as the main measurement standard, the withdrawal of a poor county must be proposed by the county-level leading group of poverty alleviation and development when the incidence of poverty drops to less than 2% (below 3% in the western region), initially reviewed by the municipal leading group of poverty alleviation and development, verified by the provincial leading group of poverty alleviation and development, and announced to the public after being excluded from the list of poor counties. After it is announced without any demur, the provincial (autonomous regional, municipal) leading group of poverty alleviation and development shall report to the State Council Leading Group of Poverty Alleviation and Development after careful verification. The State Council Leading Group of Poverty Alleviation and Development shall organize the relevant departments of the central and state organs as well as the relevant forces to carry out a special assessment and examination of the situation, and urge the relevant local governments to verify the situation if it fails to meet the requirements or perform the withdrawal procedure. For the poor counties meeting the conditions for withdraw, the provincial government shall officially approve its exit.  After the“Opinions”was issued, the mainstream media such as Xinhua News Agency, People’s Daily and CCTV publicized and reported it in a timely manner. On May 10, LGOP held a press conference. Director General Liu Yongfu introduced the“Opinions”and answered the reporters’ questions.
Poverty monitoring statistics show that in 2016, China reduced poverty-stricken population by 12.4 million, achieving the goal of reducing poor people by more than 10 million. The 22 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) that signed the letters of responsibility for poverty alleviation to the central government all completed the annual poverty reduction task. According to careful examination, the accuracy rate of poor population exit is over 90%. In accordance with the special assessment of the State Council Leading Group of Poverty Alleviation and Development, on February 26 and March 27, 2017, Jiangxi and Henan respectively declared that Jinggangshan City and Lankao County were the first to withdraw from the list of poverty-stricken counties. 
(Ma Hongchen, Department of Policies and Regulations, LGOP)
【Supervision and inspection of poverty alleviation】At the central poverty alleviation and development conference, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that we should“set up annual poverty alleviation reporting and supervision system, strengthen supervision and accountability, set up the orientation of seeking truth from facts and develop strict rules.“Premier Li Keqiang stressed the need to strengthen the assessment, supervision and accountability of poverty alleviation work.”The“Decision”clearly proposes to establish the annual supervision system of poverty alleviation and development work”.
In July 2016, the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council issued the“Measures for Supervision and Inspection of Poverty Alleviation Work”, made clear that the supervision and inspection work should conscientiously implement the basic strategy of targeted poverty alleviation, and adhere to the principle of focusing on problem addressing, seeking truth from facts, highlighting key points, public participation and graded responsibility to achieve the goal. We should urge the relevant regions and units to implement their work responsibilities and relevant policy measures, strictly abide by the rules and regulations, find out problems, improve work methods and complete the task of poverty reduction to win the battle against poverty. We should adhere to goal-oriented supervision to promote the implementation of relevant work, and adhere to problem-oriented inspection to address prominent problems. It makes specific arrangements on the organization, implementation, key contents and results utilization of the supervision and inspection. The 22 central and western provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities) are required to develop the relevant rules based on local situation in accordance with the“Measures”. Other provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) shall be governed by analogy. 
In October 2016, approved by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, the State Council Leading Group of Poverty Alleviation and Development set up 20 oversight groups and two inspection teams to check the anti-poverty work in 22 central and western provinces, had a good understanding of progress made by various regions in implementing the central government’s decisions and deployments on poverty alleviation, found some advanced models and successful experience, discovered some outstanding problems and made suggestions on increasing efforts, improving the work and relevant policies, achieving the desired purpose and promoting the relevant work. The poverty alleviation supervision and inspection system was established, focusing on the supervision of key links, and played an important“weapon”role in promoting the implementation of work responsibility and policy measures, profoundly implementing the basic strategy of targeted poverty alleviation and ensuring that we’ll win the battle against poverty as scheduled. 
 (Cao Zhenhua, Department of General Affairs,
State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development)
【Assessment of poverty alleviation and development work】Assessment is an important institutional guarantee for winning the tough battle against poverty during the “13th Five-Year Plan ”
period, and a key link in ensuring the quality of poverty reduction through developing orientations, formulating strict rules and implementing specific responsibilities. The Central Committee of the CPC and the State Council have attached great importance to it and made all-round and systematic deployments. General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang of the State Council have repeatedly made instructions on the assessment work and required implementing the most rigorous assessment system. The“Decisions on Winning the Tough Battle against Poverty”issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council clearly proposes to be strict in accountability for supervision and inspection of poverty alleviation, and develop the measures for the central government’s assessment of the effectiveness of the poverty alleviation and development work done by the provincial (autonomous regional, municipal) party committees and governments as soon as possible”. On February 9, 2016, the General Office of the Central Committee of the CPC and the General Office of the State Council issued the“Measures for the Performance Assessment of Provincial Party Committees and Governments in Poverty Alleviation and Development”and made specific arrangements for the performance assessment of provincial party committees and governments in poverty alleviation and development. 
Assessment objects: The party committees and governments of the 22 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) that signed the letters of responsibility for poverty alleviation to the central government
Organization and implementation: The assessment shall be carried out every year from 2016 to 2020. It is organized by the State Council Leading Group of Poverty Alleviation and Development, led by LGOP and the Organization Department of Central Government, and implemented by the member units of the State Council Leading Group of Poverty Alleviation and Development. 
Assessment contents: First, effectiveness of poverty reduction, including a reduction in the number of registered poor people, the withdrawal of poverty-stricken counties and the income growth of rural residents in impoverished regions; Second, accurate identification, including the accuracy of the identification and withdraw of the registered poor; Third, targeted support, the assessment focuses on checking the masses’ degree of satisfaction to the anti-poverty work of the village-stationed work teams and the poverty reduction responsible people; Fourth, poverty-relief funds, including the arrangement, use, supervision and performance of poverty-relief funds. 
Assessment steps: First, provincial-level summary. The provincial party committees and governments prepare a summary report on the work progress and results based on the annual poverty reduction plan and submit to the State Council Leading Group of Poverty Alleviation and Development. Second, the third-party evaluation. Entrust the relevant research institutions and social organizations to conduct evaluation of the relevant indicators through special investigation, sampling surveys and on-site verification. Third, data aggregation. Summarize the dynamic monitoring data of the registered poor, the rural poverty monitoring data, the third-party evaluation and the performance evaluation of financial anti-poverty funds. Fourth, comprehensive evaluation. Carry out a comprehensive analysis of the summary data and the summary reports of various provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, and form an assessment report. Fifth, communication and feedback. Announce the assessment results to the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities and make suggestions on how to improve the work.
Result application: The assessment results shall be announced by the State Council Leading Group of Poverty Alleviation and Development. The provinces that have completed the annual task with remarkable results shall be rewarded. For those with outstanding problems in the anti-poverty work, the State Council Leading Group of Poverty Alleviation and Development will hold talks with the provincial Party and government leaders and give the deadline for rectification; in case of serious situation with adverse effects, the responsibility shall be investigated. The assessment results are the important basis for the comprehensive evaluation of the main responsible persons of the provincial Party committees and governments as well as the leading group.
Major annual work: From April to August 2016, according to the deployments of the State Council Leading Group of Poverty Alleviation and Development, in conjunction with the relevant departments, LGOP made evaluation on the poverty reduction results of the provincial Party committees and governments in 2015. First, carried out the third-party evaluation. Entrusted the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to carry out the third-party evaluation of the accuracy of poor population identification, the accuracy of poverty-stricken exit and the degree of the masses’ satisfaction to the support work in the 22 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities); organized 20 academicians, 214 professors and 1088 evaluators to form 33 investigation groups to carry out field survey in 113 counties and 617 administrative villages of the 22 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities); a sample survey was carried out on 22 thousand registered poor households, and a general survey was conducted on 15300 poverty-stricken households in Fuping of Hebei, Midu of Yunnan and Pengyang of Ningxia which withdrew from the poverty reduction system. 37200 valid questionnaires were completed, and more than 900,000 pieces of information on rural households were obtained, providing an important basis for the trial assessment work. Second, extensive collection of assessment data. The provinces are required to submit the summary reports of poverty alleviation work in 2015 based on the annual poverty reduction plan. Marked those who have shaken off poverty in 2015 in the national poverty alleviation and development information system according to the results of the“looking back”activity; coordinated the National Bureau of Statistics to estimate and provide relevant data about the disposable income of rural residents in the whole country and in poor areas; in conjunction with the Ministry of Finance, in accordance with the“Measures for Performance Evaluation of Financial Anti-poverty Funds”, we presented the results of the performance evaluation of the utilization and management of financial anti-poverty funds in various provinces in 2015. Third, carried out comprehensive evaluation and analysis. The assessment group carried out in-depth analysis and calculation on the collected data of the registered poor, the income of the farmers in poor areas, the performance evaluation of financial poverty-relief funds and the results of the third-party evaluation, combined with the discipline violation situation of the 22 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) in 2015 provided by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the audit results of the use and management of the financial poverty-relief funds in 40 counties from 2013 to 2015 provided by the National Audit Office of the PRC as well as the verified problems reported by the hotline of 12317, carried out a serious discussion about the assessment data and results, and finally formed the evaluation report. Fourth, promoted the application of assessment results. Held talks with relevant principals of the two provinces with prominent problems in the pilot assessment, carried out inspections on the discovered problems; supervised and urged other 20 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) to find problems and carry out rectification to improve the work effectively. 
According to the assessment results, all the 22 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) completed the annual task of poverty reduction in 2015, the per capita income of farmers in poor areas was above the national average, the accuracy rate of the identification and withdrawal of the registered poor was above 90%, more than 80% of the poor involved were satisfied with the anti-poverty work, and the management of the poverty-relief funds was further strengthened, laying a good foundation for the targeted poverty alleviation. 
In some regions, according to the assessment results, there are still some problems and shortcomings in the anti-poverty work, requiring in-depth analysis and careful study. Effective measures should be taken for rectification. First, the poverty recognition and exit are not so accurate; second, supporting measures are not flexible and do not have strong pertinence; third, slow disbursement of poverty-relief funds, a large sum of carryover balance, and some discipline violations in the use and management of poverty-relief funds; fourth, some poor households lack motivation and wait and ask for assistance.
(Zhang Huidong, Department of Assessment, LGOP)
【Pilot project of integrated use of financial agriculture-related funds in poor counties】 In order to implement the policy decision of the Central Committee of the CPC and the State Council on winning the tough battle against poverty, the central government has increased investment in poverty alleviation and development through multiple channels, providing a strong guarantee for the completion of poverty alleviation tasks as scheduled. Despite increasing investment in poverty alleviation at all levels, the poor areas are faced with such problems as“the mismatch of powers and responsibilities”and“funds earmarked for specified purpose only”in the use of the poverty-relief funds, so the relevant funds can hardly form a resultant force. According to the decision of the CPC Central Committee —“increasing efforts in integrating poverty-relief funds and giving poor counties more autonomy in integrated use of poverty-relief funds”, after fully soliciting opinions from all sides, the Ministry of Finance and LGOP developed and put forward the idea to promote the integrated use of financial poverty-relief funds in poor counties. On April 12, 2016, the General Office of the State Council issued the“Opinions on Supporting Poor Counties to Launch Pilot Project of Integrated Use of Financial Agriculture-related Funds”(hereinafter referred to as the“Opinions”), making clear the policy requirements for the pilot project. This is the first time for the General Office of the State Council to issue a working document on the integration of agriculture-related funds. On May 10, the Ministry of Finance and LGOP held in Beijing a teleconference on a national support for poor counties to carry out pilot projects of integrated use of financial agriculture-related funds. Vice Premier Wang Yang attended the meeting and delivered an important speech, marking the official launch of this major pilot reform in the 22 central and western provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities).
Ⅰ. The Pilot Integration is of Far-reaching Significance
The pilot work of integrated use of financial agriculture-related funds in poor counties is not only a key measure to improve the efficiency of poverty-relief funds and ensure we’ll win the tough battle against poverty as scheduled, but also an important manifestation of the central departments’ deepening the reform of“delegating power, streamlining administration and optimizing government services”and promoting the transformation of government functions. Unprecedented efforts have been put to this pilot reform in the history of the reform of agriculture-related funds.
（Ⅰ）The self-revolution of the central departments
Basic idea of the pilot work: the central and provincial and municipal departments give the right to allocate and use the relevant financial agriculture-related funds to the pilot poor counties, the poor counties determine the key poverty alleviation projects and construction tasks according to the local poverty alleviation planning and the order of priority, and then make good arrangements of the agriculture-related funds. Central departments are required not only to give poor counties the right to approve the fund use and projects, but also to strengthen management and service. In fact, it is a kind of self-revolution of the relevant departments, and an important embodiment of promoting the reform of“delegating power, streamlining administration and optimizing government services”to serve poverty alleviation. 
（Ⅱ）An important measure to achieve targeted poverty alleviation
The integrated use of agriculture-related funds in poor counties is just a means, and the fundamental purpose is to improve the effectiveness of poverty alleviation. In order to achieve accurate poverty alleviation and change the situation of capital“fragmentation”, we must truly decentralize relevant projects and funding authority, break the shackles of integrated use of funds, develop scientific planning and establish effective project platforms to ensure that the funds are invested in the most important direction, the most important link and the most accurate targets. 
（Ⅲ）The inevitable requirement of pushing forward the supply-side structural reform
The core of the integration is to give the allocation rights of some financial agriculture-related funds to the poverty-stricken counties. It is conducive to further optimizing the supply mechanism of agriculture-related funds, stimulating local endogenous power, alleviating the precipitation and retention of financial funds and addressing the problems of dispersed agriculture-related funds and“supply-demand mismatch”, reflecting the requirements of the supply-side structural reform.
Ⅱ. The Pilot Integration is Orderly Promoted
（Ⅰ）Central authorities fully delegate power and promote the reform of“delegating power, streamlining administration and optimizing government services”
First, establishing the work coordination mechanism. After the national teleconference was convened, the Ministry of Finance, LGOP and the relevant departments established the work coordination mechanism to support the pilot work of integrated use of funds. The National Audit Office, the State Forestry Administration, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Water Resources, LGOP and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-rural Development successively issued documents to support the pilot work. For example, the document issued by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-rural Development proposed to“timely revise and improve the rural dangerous house reconstruction funds use system and management requirements, abolish the relevant provisions on restricting the integrated use of funds”.
Second, refining support policy measures. To completely dispel the pilot counties’ doubts and mobilize all circles of society to get involved in the pilot work, based on field research and on-site work meeting to solicit opinions of all sides, the Ministry of Finance and LGOP jointly issued the“Notice on Matters Related to Further Promoting the Integrated Use of Agriculture-related Funds in Poor Counties”and put forward specific requirements from many aspects, including increasing financial security, speeding up the work progress, strengthening the examination and evaluation, and establishing the incentive mechanism, etc. 
Third, strengthening information exchange and feedback. Established a monthly statistical system to timely track the progress of the pilot work of integrated use of funds in various regions; compiled and printed the“Briefings on Integrated use of Agriculture-related Funds in Poor Counties”, and published papers on the central government’s deployments and the highlights of local work for learning and exchange of various regions. 11 such publications were printed in 2016. About the typical problems discovered in the pilot work, the Ministry of Finance issued the“Q & A on Financial Poverty Alleviation”to answer people’s questions. Two“Q & A on Financial Poverty Alleviation”were printed in 2016, which answered a total of 18 questions about the pilot work. 
Fourth, improving the evaluation and notification system. Incorporated the results of the pilot work into the performance evaluation of the financial poverty-relief fund in 2016, with score weight of 20%, and carried out a comprehensive evaluation of the establishment of the working mechanism, the management system construction, and the increase of funds. At the same time, according to the reported statistical data and performance evaluation results, we regularly announce the progress of the pilot work in the 22 provinces, which plays an effective spur role.
（Ⅱ）Local governments make active explorations and ensure that they’ll do a good job and deserve the trust of the central government.
First, timely develop the implementation plan. After the“Opinions”was issued, the pilot provinces timely developed the pilot work implementation plan based on local situation and made clear the pilot area, funding scope and workflow. As of the middle of September 2016, all the 22 pilot provinces had formulated the implementation plan or guiding opinions. 
Second, making innovations to the integration mechanism. Seizing the opportunity for the pilot integration, the local governments made flexible use of the policy, with the purpose of improving poverty reduction effectiveness and shaking off poverty, in accordance with the poverty alleviation planning, adjusted measures to local situation and explored the establishment of the integration mechanism with the local characteristics. Guangxi issued the pilot integration work instructions, and clearly put forward the requirements of“one up, one down and two ups”for the procedures of the integration work. Sichuan built the“pool of funds”for the integration work by combining the“unified allocation of retained water”,“cutting off from the long to support the deficiency of the short”and“drainage convergence”. 
Third, effectively strengthening supervision and management. Take the financial agriculture-related funds involved in the integration as the key target of the supervision over poverty-relief funds, give full play to the role of the first secretaries of impoverished villages and the village-stationed work teams in fund supervision, and get deeply involved in the management and supervision of the agriculture-related funds and projects. Gansu Province has established the supervision mechanism characterized by“joint supervision with duties well arranged”and the accountability system characterized by“responsibility investigation and double investigations for each case”. Chongqing financial department, audit department and poverty alleviation office, Chongqing Resident Office of China National Audit Office, and Chongqing Commissioners Office of the Ministry of Finance jointly got involved and established a collaborative regulatory mechanism to form a join regulatory force.
Fourth, actively holding trainings and carrying out publicity. Local governments strengthened policy trainings and held training courses on the pilot integration to interpret relevant policies and exchange experience. At the same time, various forms are used to improve the effectiveness of publicity, creating a good atmosphere for jointly promoting the integration work. Through“inviting relevant persons to give reports and conducting field survey”, Hunan Province invited relevant principals of some poor counties to carry out field research in the province, and invited some provincial leaders to interpret the policy on the pilot integration to some cities, prefectures and poor counties. Shaanxi and Guizhou held a news conference on the pilot work of integrated use of funds, giving an official announcement of the pilot work in the province. 
Ⅲ. The Pilot Integration Achieved Initial Results
In 2016, the pilot integration work was launched in 961 poor counties nationwide, of which 792 are key counties and the counties in contiguous destitute areas (accounting for 95% of the total key counties and the counties in contiguous destitute areas nationwide), and a total of more than 320 billion yuan of financial agriculture-related funds from governments at all levels was involved in the integration. According to the practice of various regions, the pilot integration work strongly supported the anti-poverty work in the pilot counties, and the awareness of funds integration has been gradually enhanced, fully affirmed by the leaders of the State Council and widely welcomed by the masses. First, created a new pattern of poverty-relief fund supply. Through the integration of funds, the financial agriculture-related funds from different channels and various purposes are bundled for a unified purpose, addressing the problem of funds“fragmentation”and easing the financial funds precipitation and retention. Second, strengthened the initiative of poor counties for poverty alleviation. Pilot poverty-stricken counties are allowed to make overall arrangements for the use of funds according to the local poverty alleviation planning and given the autonomous rights for fund use, so they are more active in measure adjustment based on local situation for poverty reduction. Third, created a new situation of targeted poverty alleviation. The project and funding authority are delegated to the county governments through scientific planning and effective project platform, ensuring that the funds are used for the most important direction, the most critical link and the most accurate objects. 
(Zhu Shantao, Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Finance)
【Poverty alleviation with asset returns】As an important institutional arrangement of targeted poverty alleviation, the poverty alleviation with asset returns is not only a system innovation with Chinese characteristics for domestic poverty reduction, but also proved effective in the practice of poverty reduction in various regions, widely welcomed by the masses. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council attach great importance to the poverty alleviation with asset returns, and the central leaders have repeatedly given important instructions to the work. The“Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Winning the Tough Battle against Poverty”has also made clear requirements on the poverty alleviation with asset returns.
In 2016, the fight against poverty started all over the country, and the relevant industrial policies were successively introduced. All kinds of poverty alleviation resources were gradually gathered to poor villages and poor households, and priorities were given to poverty-stricken counties. The local governments all took poverty alleviation with asset returns as a major innovation of the industrial poverty alleviation mode, and a lot of advanced experience was accumulated in traditional breeding industry and emerging industries. 
Pilot program of poverty alleviation with asset returns in planting industry in Cangxi County of Sichuan Province: Convert financial funds that support industrial projects such as kiwi into shares and issued to the village collectives, the villagers’ groups and the farmers. The villagers get the guaranteed income and participate in the profit sharing based on their shares. In order to help poor households obtain more returns on assets, the government supported the poor by increasing stock rights to them. 
The“Golden Chicken”mode for targeted poverty alleviation created by Wei County of Hebei Province: Through cooperation with the DQY Company, and through government financing for factory building, conversion of poverty-relief funds into shares, corporate leasing, sharing by poor people and benefiting collective economy, the poor household get dividend of 1,000 yuan per person per year, and the disposable income of impoverished villages increases by 100,000 yuan per year. 
Pilot work of poverty alleviation with returns on tourism assets in Laishui County of Hebei Province, characterized by“village development driven by the development of scenic spots, household development led by capable persons”: By putting the village into the unified management of scenic spots, we incorporated the villagers into the cooperative stock management system, incorporated poor households into the mutual-aid organizations so that they’ll get help from capable persons, and incorporated the benefit linkage mechanism into the standardized management to guarantee the benefits. In accordance with the principle of“3∶7 for benefit sharing and 25% for minimum guarantee”of the cooperatives, the members of cooperatives get dividends and more income. 
Poverty alleviation with photovoltaic assets income in Yinan County of Shandong province: Through the construction of village power stations and grid connected power generation, use all annual returns on power generation for the income growth of the poor without the ability to work. In terms of income distribution, according to the physical conditions and wishes of the poor population with working ability, through the participation of the poverty alleviation council in research, 12 types of village-level public service positions were set up for them to do what they can. The annual post subsidies are in four grades from 360 yuan to 960 yuan and the annual per capita income is 460 yuan. Through this mode of distribution, we strived to guide the benefitted poor households to participate in the villages’ public welfare activities as much as possible. 
According to monitoring, asset income-based poverty alleviation has become an important means of targeted poverty alleviation, and more than one third of the financial poverty-relief funds are used for the poverty alleviation projects with asset returns. 
While affirming the results, it should be noted that there are also some tendentious and tendentious problems in the poverty alleviation with asset returns. First, there is a tendency of“raising lazy people”in the distribution of income. In some areas, poverty alleviation with asset returns is considered as direct distribution of money and materials to poor households and people do not think it is related to promoting the development of the collective economy of local villages. Thus, its spillover effects have not been put into full play, the endogenous motivation of poor households has not been fully mobilized, and the poor are not so active in participating in the relevant projects to improve their ability and quality. Second, no supporting measures have been developed, and the income period mismatches the poverty alleviation period. Not so many high-quality enterprises and social resources are introduced, some projects’ income interval is too long, sometimes as long as three to five years, and the projects with high current returns are often faced with higher market risks. The relevant insurance policies are imperfect, and insurance products for price risk have not been introduced and developed. Third, the financing channels of poverty alleviation with assets income are relatively simple. At present, mainly the agriculture-related funds, especially financial poverty-relief funds are used for the work, and few stock assets and natural resources are used. In addition, in the poverty alleviation with assets income, the organic combination of financial funds and financial capital and social capital should be further strengthened. 
To address the existing problems and deficiencies in the poverty alleviation with assets income, LGOP and the Ministry of Finance further improved the relevant policies and refined the work measures to improve the scientificity, accuracy and sustainability of the poverty alleviation with assets income. First, carefully select projects and enterprises for poverty alleviation with assets income. We should actively introduce high-quality enterprises to participate in the poverty alleviation with asset returns, in particular, adjust measures based on local situation, carefully select projects, strive to shorten the interval of project income and increase the return on assets. We should introduce insurance institutions and enrich insurance products and means to disperse and prevent the risks of industrial projects. Second, combine the poverty alleviation with assets income with the expansion of village collective economy. In terms of the distribution way, the property right and income right of the assets should be allocated to the village collective as much as possible rather than directly to the households. The village collective is responsible for the secondary allocation to the poor households, and some returns on assets can also be used for  public welfare undertakings in the village so that the poor households will have a strong sense of participation and sense of gain, and then have strong inner impetus for shaking off poverty by themselves. Third, continue to broaden the financing channels of poverty alleviation with assets income. Guide local governments to further improve the mechanism for bundled use of financial funds, and take poverty alleviation with assets income as the main object of the support of financial agricultural funds and poverty-relief funds. 
(Zhou Xiang, Department of Development Guidance, LGOP)

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