Xi Jinping on Poverty Alleviation (2020)

Under the guidance of the thought of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era, we should fully implement the spirit of the 19th CPC National Congress and the second, third and fourth Plenary sessions of the 19th CPC Central Committee, consistently and unswervingly administer the party strictly in an all-round way, adhere to and improve the party and the state supervision system, strengthen the restriction and supervision of the operation of power, and ensure the implementation of the party's line, principles and policies.

-Speech by Xi Jinping at the Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection on January 13, 2020

2020 is the year of decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way and fighting a decisive battle against poverty. It is also the year of the "13th Five-Year Plan. I hope that everyone will adhere to the general tone of the work of seeking progress while maintaining stability, fully implement the new development concept, and comprehensively do a good job in stabilizing growth, promoting reform, adjusting structure, benefiting people's livelihood, preventing risks, and maintaining stability.

-Xi Jinping's speech on January 14, 2020 when welcoming the Spring Festival with non-party personages

It is necessary to fight a decisive battle against poverty, focus on the deep poverty-stricken areas, focus on the counties and villages where the work is difficult, and in accordance with the "five batches" method, strengthen the implementation of classified policies, list the supervision of the war, and strive to conquer the last fortress. We will firmly grasp the basic standards of "two no worries and three guarantees" and strictly accept them. It is important to prevent a return to poverty due to inadequate follow-up policy support or a return to poverty due to causes of injury. We should attach equal importance to "rich brains" and "rich pockets", strengthen the combination of poverty alleviation with supporting the will and wisdom, and strengthen the connection between development-oriented poverty alleviation and indemnificatory poverty alleviation.

-- Speech by Xi Jinping during his investigation in Yunnan from January 19 to 21, 2020

We should focus on conquering the last fortress of the fight against poverty, combine with the promotion of rural revitalization strategy, take epidemic prevention and control as the starting point, and strengthen the improvement of rural human settlements and the construction of public health system.

-- Xi Jinping's speech at the meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee to study the response to the new coronavirus pneumonia epidemic on February 3, 2020

Resolutely complete the task of poverty alleviation. This year's poverty alleviation will be fully concluded. There were already many tough battles to fight. Now we have to work hard to overcome the impact of the epidemic. We must work harder to implement the tough work. Labor export and import places should be accurately connected to help poor laborers return to work in an orderly manner, and support leading poverty alleviation enterprises and poverty alleviation workshops to resume work as soon as possible to absorb local employment. It is necessary to organize the docking of production and marketing, and to solve the problem of difficulty in selling agricultural and livestock products in poor areas. It is necessary to speed up the establishment and improvement of a mechanism to prevent returning to poverty, and promptly implement assistance measures for those who return to poverty due to the epidemic or other reasons to ensure that basic living standards are not affected.

-- Xi Jinping's speech at the meeting on the deployment of the prevention and control of the new coronary pneumonia epidemic and economic and social development on February 23, 2020.

Since 2015, I have held seven special conferences on winning the battle against poverty. In 2015, a symposium on poverty alleviation and prosperity in old revolutionary base areas was held in Yan 'an, a symposium on poverty alleviation in some provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities and economic and social development during the 13th Five-Year Plan period was held in Guiyang, a symposium on poverty alleviation cooperation between the east and the west was held in Yinchuan in 2016, a symposium on poverty alleviation in deeply impoverished areas was held in Taiyuan in 2017, and a symposium on solving the outstanding problems of "two no worries and three guarantees" in Chongqing in 2019.

-- Speech by Xi Jinping at the Symposium on the Decisive Fight against Poverty on March 6, 2020

The target task of poverty alleviation is nearing completion. Since the 1980 s, China has been helping the poor. There are two basic situations. One is based on the poverty alleviation standards at the time, the number of poor people will not be reduced when it is reduced to about 30 million, and the other is that the more people wear the hat of poor counties, the more they help. This fight against poverty has reversed this trend. The number of people living in poverty has decreased from 98.99 million at the end of 2012 to 5.51 million at the end of 2019, and the incidence of poverty has dropped from 10.2 per cent to 0.6 per cent, reducing poverty by more than 10 million per year for seven consecutive years. By the end of February this year, 601 of the 832 poverty-stricken counties across the country had announced that they had taken off their hats, 179 were undergoing exit inspections, and 52 counties had not taken off their hats. The overall regional poverty has basically been resolved.

-- Speech by Xi Jinping at the Symposium on the Decisive Fight against Poverty on March 6, 2020

The income level of the poor has increased by a big margin. More than 90% of the poor people who have established files and registered cards have received industrial poverty alleviation and employment poverty alleviation support. More than 2/3 of them mainly rely on migrant workers and industries to get rid of poverty. The proportion of wage income and production and operation income has increased, and the proportion of transfer income has decreased year by year. The ability to get rid of poverty independently has steadily improved. From 2013 to 2019, the per capita disposable income of farmers in 832 poverty-stricken counties increased from 6079 yuan to 11567 yuan, with an average annual growth rate of 9.7 percent, 2.2 percentage points higher than that of the national per capita disposable income in the same period. The per capita net income of poor households nationwide increased from 3416 yuan in 2015 to 9808 yuan in 2019, an average annual increase of 30.2. The quality level of the "two no worries" of the poor people has been significantly improved, and the outstanding problems of the "three guarantees" have been solved as a whole.

-- Speech by Xi Jinping at the Symposium on the Decisive Fight against Poverty on March 6, 2020

The economic and social development of poverty-stricken areas has accelerated significantly. With the continuous growth of characteristic industries, industrial poverty alleviation, e-commerce poverty alleviation, photovoltaic poverty alleviation, tourism poverty alleviation and other rapid development, the economic vitality and development potential of poor areas have been significantly enhanced. Through ecological poverty alleviation, relocation of poverty alleviation, returning farmland to forests and grasslands, the ecological environment in poverty-stricken areas has been significantly improved, the channels for increasing employment and income for poor households have increased significantly, and basic public services have become increasingly perfect.

-- Speech by Xi Jinping at the Symposium on the Decisive Fight against Poverty on March 6, 2020

Poverty governance capacity has been significantly improved. We have promoted party building to promote poverty alleviation, and grassroots organizations in poverty-stricken areas have been strengthened. Through poverty identification and precise assistance, grassroots cadres have significantly improved their skills and consolidated the party's ruling foundation in rural areas. A total of 255000 village-based work teams have been sent across the country, and a total of more than 290 million cadres from party and government agencies and state-owned enterprises and institutions at or above the county level have been selected to serve as first secretaries or village cadres in poor villages and weak and scattered villages. Young cadres have learned about the grassroots, learned to do mass work, and grew up rapidly in practice.

-- Speech by Xi Jinping at the Symposium on the Decisive Fight against Poverty on March 6, 2020

China's poverty reduction program and achievements in poverty reduction have been widely recognized by the international community. After the completion of this year's poverty alleviation task, about 0.1 billion poor people in my country will be lifted out of poverty, and the poverty reduction goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development will be achieved 10 years ahead of schedule. No country in the world can help so many people in such a short period of time. Poverty alleviation is of great significance to China and the world. UN Secretary-General Guterres said that targeted poverty alleviation strategies are the only way to help the poor and achieve the ambitious goals set by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. China's experience can provide useful lessons for other developing countries. In the international cooperation of building the "Belt and Road", many developing countries hope to share China's experience in poverty reduction.

-- Speech by Xi Jinping at the Symposium on the Decisive Fight against Poverty on March 6, 2020

The remaining task of poverty alleviation is arduous. There are still 52 poor counties in the country that have not taken off their hats, 2707 poor villages have not been listed, and all the poor people who have set up files and registered cards have not been lifted out of poverty. Although the total amount is not large compared with the past, it is the most difficult hard bone to chew. The problem of "three guarantees" has been basically solved, but it is not easy to stabilize and consolidate. Some children drop out of school repeatedly, the level of medical services in many rural areas is low, the quality of renovation of dilapidated houses in some rural areas is not high, and safe drinking water in some places is unstable. There is also seasonal water shortage. Among the remaining poverty-stricken population, the proportion of the elderly, the sick and the disabled reached 45.7 per cent.

-- Speech by Xi Jinping at the Symposium on the Decisive Fight against Poverty on March 6, 2020

The neo-coronary pneumonia epidemic poses new challenges. The impact of the epidemic on the fight against poverty is mainly manifested in these aspects. One is that migrant workers are blocked. According to the statistics of the Poverty Alleviation Office of the State Council, in 2019, there were 27.29 million poor laborers working outside the country. About 2/3 of these families' income comes from migrant workers, involving about 2/3 poor people who have established files and registered cards. Now, some poor laborers are affected by going out to work. If no measures are taken, their income will decrease in a short period of time. The second is the difficulty of poverty alleviation product sales and industrial poverty alleviation. Agricultural and animal husbandry products in poverty-stricken areas cannot be sold, agricultural materials cannot be transported in, and production and consumption decline, affecting industrial poverty alleviation and income increase. Three is the suspension of poverty alleviation projects. Projects such as supporting facilities for poverty alleviation and relocation, drinking water safety projects, and rural roads are under-started and cannot be advanced as planned. Fourth, help work is affected. In some areas where the epidemic is serious, temporary cadres and village teams are temporarily unable to come to their posts.

-- Speech by Xi Jinping at the Symposium on the Decisive Fight against Poverty on March 6, 2020

Overcome the difficult task. It is necessary to continue to focus on deep poverty-stricken areas such as the "three districts and three states", implement poverty alleviation programs, and focus on prominent problems and weak links to implement policies. To ensure that the remaining poverty-stricken people who have established files and registered cards are lifted out of poverty as scheduled, 52 poverty-stricken counties and 1113 poverty-stricken villages will be listed and supervised. The State Council's Leading Group for Poverty Alleviation and Development must be more serious. "War", gnaw the last hard bones. It is necessary to consolidate the results of the "two no worries and three guarantees" and prevent a rebound. Social security should be strengthened for the special poor who are unable to work, so as to ensure that they are fully insured.

-- Speech by Xi Jinping at the Symposium on the Decisive Fight against Poverty on March 6, 2020

Efforts to overcome the impact of the epidemic. To implement the zoning classification precision prevention and control strategy. In areas with serious epidemics, while focusing on epidemic prevention and control, we can innovate our work methods and promote epidemic prevention and control and poverty alleviation. In areas where there is no epidemic or where the epidemic is relatively light, we should concentrate on accelerating the fight against poverty. We should give priority to supporting the employment of poor labor force, give priority to the organization and use of poor labor force in the aspects of resuming work and production of enterprises, starting major projects, and building logistics system. We should encourage enterprises to recruit more people from poor areas, especially poor families, and help poor labor force return to work in an orderly manner as soon as possible through the "point-to-point" poverty alleviation cooperation between the East and the West. It is necessary to classify and implement policies, and to increase the delivery of migrant workers in areas where there is no epidemic. It is necessary to effectively solve the problem of unsalable agricultural and animal husbandry products for poverty alleviation, organize the docking of production and sales, carry out consumer poverty alleviation actions, use the Internet to broaden sales channels, and solve the problem of difficulty in selling agricultural products through multiple channels. It is necessary to support poverty alleviation industries to resume production, do a good job in spring ploughing preparations such as the supply of agricultural materials, make good use of industrial assistance funds and poverty alleviation microfinance policies, and promote the sustainable development of poverty alleviation industries. It is necessary to speed up the start and resumption of poverty alleviation projects, and complete the construction of supporting facilities for relocation, housing and drinking water safety in the first half of the year. It is necessary to do a good job of helping people who have returned to poverty as a result of the epidemic, closely follow the situation of the poor affected by the epidemic, and promptly implement measures such as support to ensure that their basic livelihood is not affected.

-- Speech by Xi Jinping at the Symposium on the Decisive Fight against Poverty on March 6, 2020

Strict assessment to carry out the census. We should strictly control the exit, and resolutely put an end to digital poverty alleviation and false poverty alleviation. The Leading Group for Poverty Alleviation and Development of the State Council should carry out supervision and inspection, strengthen regular supervision and guidance, and this year the central government will continue to carry out assessment of the effectiveness of poverty alleviation. Starting from the second half of the year, the state will organize a general survey of poverty alleviation and conduct a comprehensive test of the effectiveness of poverty alleviation in various regions. It's a big deal. It is necessary to provide data support for the Party Central Committee's timely announcement of winning the battle against poverty and building a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way, so as to ensure that it can stand the test of history and the people.

-- Speech by Xi Jinping at the Symposium on the Decisive Fight against Poverty on March 6, 2020

"The beginning of his work is simple, and the end of his work will be great." The more we fight against poverty, the more we must strengthen and improve the leadership of the Party. Party committees (party groups) at all levels must perform their duties and fulfill their mission. By 2020, all the rural poor people under the current standards will be lifted out of poverty. This is a solemn promise made by the Party Central Committee to the people of the whole country. It must be realized as scheduled without any retreat or flexibility. This is a tough battle. The more you get to the end, the more you have to tighten this string. You can't stop, you can't be careless, you can't relax. All provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities have signed military orders at various levels, and promises will be fulfilled. Time passed quickly, and we must hurry up and down.

-- Speech by Xi Jinping at the Symposium on the Decisive Fight against Poverty on March 6, 2020

The central government should continue to increase the scale of special poverty alleviation funds, and finance at all levels should also ensure the funding needs for poverty alleviation. It is necessary to strengthen the integration of financial funds related to agriculture, strengthen the supervision of poverty alleviation funds, improve the efficiency and efficiency of the use of funds, and make good use of land and financial policies for poverty alleviation. For places that have achieved stable poverty alleviation, all localities can make overall arrangements for special poverty alleviation funds to support the poor people in non-poor counties and non-poor villages to get rid of poverty.

-- Speech by Xi Jinping at the Symposium on the Decisive Fight against Poverty on March 6, 2020

It is necessary to deepen the cooperation between the east and the west in poverty alleviation and the targeted poverty alleviation by the central units. At present, the most prominent task is to help the central and western regions reduce the impact of the epidemic on poverty alleviation, help in labor cooperation, help in consumption poverty alleviation. In the long run, poverty alleviation cooperation between the east and the west should be based on the overall national regional development strategy, deepen regional cooperation, promote the gradient transfer of eastern industries to the west, and realize industrial complementarity, personnel interaction, mutual learning of technology, exchange of ideas, mutual learning of work style, and common development.

-- Speech by Xi Jinping at the Symposium on the Decisive Fight against Poverty on March 6, 2020

The work of poverty alleviation is arduous, and the year of the end of the official year has been affected by the epidemic, and the tasks are heavier and more demanding. We must not forget our original aspirations, keep our mission in mind, strengthen our confidence, fight tenaciously, win a comprehensive victory in the fight against poverty, and resolutely complete this great cause that is of great significance to the Chinese nation and mankind!

-- Speech by Xi Jinping at the Symposium on the Decisive Fight against Poverty on March 6, 2020

It is necessary to accurately grasp the stage changes in the prevention and control of the epidemic and the economic situation at home and abroad, adjust the focus of work and response measures according to the situation, ensure that the people's war, the overall war and the war of resistance in the prevention and control of the epidemic are won, and ensure that the goal and task of building a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way and fighting poverty is achieved.

-Xi Jinping's speech at the meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on March 18, 2020

Source: People's Daily Online