POVERTY REDUCTION BRIEFING 2015-II

State and Ministerial Policy News:

1.Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC),stressed China’s unswerving resolve to lose no time in promoting poverty alleviation and development and to help residents in poor areas to catch up, as he spoke with participants of the first seminar for county-level Party chiefs at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee in Beijing. Xi said that the Party and central government should prioritize poverty alleviation and development. Leaders at various levels of the poverty-stricken areas must concentrate on this work and lead the people to win the anti-poverty campaign.

Source: xinhua.net Jan.12, 2015

2.The training program of international cooperation and foreign affairs management of the national poverty alleviation system was held in Shiyan, Hubei. Authorities from the Department of International Cooperation and Social Poverty-Relief of State Council Poverty Alleviation Office, Hubei Provincial Poverty Alleviation Office and Shiyan Municipal Party Committee attended and addressed the opening ceremony. Experts from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Party School of the CPC Central Committee lectured on international cooperation on poverty alleviation, China’s participation and General Secretary Xi’s diplomatic thinking. Deputies from Hubei, Guangxi, and Yunnan introduced their experience. Trainees discussed heatedly how to strengthen international cooperation and exploit local roles advantages fully under the new situation.

Source: State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development

Jan.16, 2015

3.Children Development Plan (2014-2020) in National Poverty Areas issued by the General Office of the State Council will benefit 40 million children in contiguous areas with special difficulties. According to the plan, the overall level of children’s development in those areas will have reached or approached national average by 2020. The retention rate of nine-year compulsory education will be 93%.

Source: chinanews.com Jan.15, 2015

Public Poverty Alleviation and Charity News:

4.More than 33 thousand mutual help groups for rural left-behind women were set up in 2014. To improve women and children’s well-being, the public welfare institutions of the All China Women’s Federation and women’s federations at provincial level raised over one billion yuan to advance programs such as ‘Spring Buds’, ‘Health Express for Mothers’ and ‘Mothers’ Parcel Post’. Through these programs, they provided assistance for 18 thousand ‘Spring Buds’ studentsadditionally, put into use over 190 ‘health expresses’ and handed out 123 thousand‘mother’s parcels’.

Source: xinhua.net Jan.12, 2015

5.The China Charities Aid Foundation for Children (CCAFC) has raisedover 400 million yuan in the past five years, assisting over 600 thousand children and supporting over 300 public welfare and charity organizations in their poverty relief efforts. CCAFC has received donations from about 160 thousand individuals and 3500 SMEs, with individual contributions accounting for 50%. CCAFC now has 7 independent projects, 15 special funds and 14 cooperative projects.

Source: Beijing Daily Jan.12, 2015

Local Poverty Alleviation News:

6.11 key counties recognized by the State Council Leading Group of Poverty Alleviation and Development and 159 poor townships in Guizhou were lifted out of poverty in 2014, benefiting 1.7 million people. The local government prioritized increasing farmers’ income through reform measures such as restructuring agricultural mix, building modern agricultural parks and developing characteristic agriculture in mountainous regions. Considerable progress has been made in rural and agricultural development as well as poverty alleviation. Per capita net income of farmers increased by 14% in 2014, with the growth rate ranked among the best in the nation.

Source: cnr.cnJan.11, 2015

7.The online poverty alleviation platform “Loving Care”, jointly created by the Poverty Alleviation Bureau and government information center of Qiannan,was put into operation. The platform will build bridges between the donators(individuals or organizations) and those in need to promote poverty alleviation and development in Qiannan.

Source: xinhua.net Jan.14, 2015

8.Shanxi Province is issuing privately raised company bonds to support poverty alleviation by industries. In the city of Taiyuan, three enterprises leading poverty alleviation efforts are preparing to issue small and micro businesses privately raised bundled bonds and plan to raise 120 million yuan.

Source: Shanxi DailyJan.13, 2015

9.HuanjiangMaonan Autonomous County, Guangxi recently launched the ecological immigrant project for poverty alleviation. According to the project plan,by 2020, 60 thousand residents that lack production and living conditions in remote and poor areas will be relocated to urban areas, thus achieving the three goals of development-oriented poverty alleviation, ecological restoration and urbanization.

Source: Guangxi DailyJan.14, 2015

10.Sichuan Province spent over 64 billion yuan on poverty alleviation and lifted 1.2 million people out of poverty in 2014. The provincial government focused on targeted poverty alleviation and started the campaign with the poorest villages and households and the most urgent concerns of poor residents. As a result, new progress of poverty alleviation was made, and 1.2 million people were lifted out of poverty.

Source: Sichuan DailyJan.13, 2015

Organizer: Beijing Normal University China Poverty Reduction Research Center