Recently, China has issued a white paper titled “Poverty Alleviation: China’s Experience and Contribution.” The document reviews the great fight in eliminating extreme poverty in China, home to nearly one fifth of the world’s population.
Apart from astounding numbers, the white paper also provides impressive descriptions of changes to the lives of impoverished people. The battle against poverty has not only brought about significant improvements to the living standards of the poor, but also a thorough transformation of their mindset, inside and out. Here, a story epitomized how such transformation was made possible.
Li Wenwen and her two sisters live in Yanchuan county of Yan’an city, once a national-level poverty-stricken county. Their mother is missing, and their father has a mental illness brought on by the pressures of life. When village officials visited the family several years ago, they saw the three girls raggedly dressed, their eyes full of fear, and traces of fire still on the walls of their cave house caused by aging circuits.
Gao Yuan, first Party secretary said, “Poverty once deprived the farmers here of any sense of happiness. And the pressures of life made them feel a lack of dignity.”
Under the guidance of targeted poverty alleviation policies, residents in Yanchuan who are able to work began developing industries that leverage local strengths, such as growing apples and red dates. As for Li Wenwen’s family, the local government helped them build a new house and organized for her father to receive hospital treatment. The three girls also realized their dream of going to school.
There wasn’t any nervousness on their faces in front of the camera. Instead, they were beaming with joy. After getting out of poverty, residents in Yanchuan showed their enthusiasm for pursuing a better life.
There is an old saying in China: “When the granaries are full, the people follow rules of etiquette.” Only when people have sufficient food and clothing, as well as access to education, housing and health care, can they live with more dignity. This also lays a solid foundation for people’s other rights and their future development. China, with a vast population, had a weak economic foundation and uneven development. In 1978, more than 770 million people in China’s rural areas lived below the current poverty line. By the end of 2012, there were still 98.99 million rural residents living in poverty, like Li Wenwen and her family. Therefore, China has been upholding the rights to subsistence and development as the primary human rights.
Based on such concepts of human rights, China has long focused on growing the economy and improving people’s lives as its top priorities; eradicating poverty through targeted policies to reach those truly in need is a typical practice to that end.
Today, 10% of the world’s population live in extreme poverty, and the long-term impact of COVID-19 means that this number is still increasing. China’s experience and philosophies outlined in the white paper, as well as its concrete practices, will contribute to building a global community with a shared future that is free from poverty and pursues common development.
China Mosaic
http://www.china.org.cn/video/node_7230027.htm
Poverty eradication in China: Concrete protection of human rights
http://www.china.org.cn/video/2021-04/14/content_77406285.htm
SOURCE China.org.cn
