BY H.E. MR. ZHAO ZHIYUAN,
Chinese Ambassador to Ethiopia
The enduring challenge of poverty makes the efforts to combat it a constant priority on every government’s agenda across the world. China’s fight against deprivations constitutes a major theme running through its history. Cramped by insufficient means, especially since modern times, the Chinese people have developed an intense longing for a poverty-free and well-off life. Up and out of poverty has thus been the relentless pursuit of the Chinese nation and part and parcel of the Chinese dream of national renewal. Since Day One, the Communist Party of China (CPC) has always upheld as its founding mission and aspiration to seek happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation. Over the past 100 years, the CPC united and led people of ethnic groups as one to work tirelessly with resolve and perseverance, making the most of reform and opening-up and striving for the realization of people’s aspiration for a better life. As the CPC’s centenary draws near, General Secretary Xi Jinping solemnly declared that China scored a complete victory in the fight against poverty. Based on the current criteria, all of the 98.99 million rural poverty-stricken residents have been lifted above the poverty line, and 832 impoverished counties as well as 128,000 villages have been removed from the poverty list. Overall regional poverty and absolute poverty are no longer a concern. China has achieved the goals in the UN Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development (SDGs) 10 years ahead of schedule, presenting the world with a Chinese model of poverty reduction. With its contribution to the global poverty alleviation cause, China has created a miracle that will be recounted in human history.
I. Theoretical Guidance Speaks Volumes Theory is grown from practice, and theory in turn informs practice. Over the past 100 years, especially since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, the Party, with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, has always been advancing poverty alleviation as a priority. With united support from the people and China’s realities in mind, the Party has implemented an extraordinary set of policies and measures that follow the laws of poverty reduction. It has also developed an effective system of policies, processes and institutions and embarked on a unique path of poverty alleviation. In this legendary journey, a poverty eradication theory with Chinese characteristics has come into being which features “Seven Commitments”: (1) uphold Party leadership which offers solid political and organizational underpinning to poverty alleviation; (2) follow a people-centered philosophy of development and pursue prosperity for all; (3) leverage the political advantages of the country’s socialist system which can pull together the resources necessary for important undertakings and mobilize collective will and actions; (4) keep to the strategy of targeted relief and promote development to address the root causes of poverty; (5) stimulate the enthusiasm, innovation and creativity of the people and nurture inner motivation to exit poverty; (6) put an emphasis on solidarity against difficulty and foster a culture of helping the desperate and needy; (7) take a problem-solving and results-oriented approach to ensure that targeted relief efforts can reach the truly destitute and lift them out of poverty for good. The “Seven Commitments” explains a number of major issues concerning the campaign against poverty, including its political underpinning, value approach, institutional support, and implementation path, source of drive, social foundation, and code of conduct. It is the theoretical crystallization of China’s splendid efforts against poverty, the latest output of China’s adaptation of Marxist anti-poverty theory, and an integral part of the Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.
II. Willpower Makes A Great Difference A person without willpower cannot stand tall, and a country without willpower cannot thrive. Confronted with the persistence of poverty, the CPC and the Chinese people defied all odds and rose above the challenges with common purpose and responses. The Chinese people have completed the arduous task of eradicating absolute poverty and developed a spirit of poverty alleviation.
It is a spirit of standing together as one, of putting the best foot forward with targeted and practical actions, of blazing new trails against difficulties, and of never failing the people. The 90-year-old Xia Sen, former research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences who joined the CPC-led revolution at the age of 14, has donated all of her own savings of 2.032 million yuan throughout her 40-year retirement to improve the teaching conditions in poverty-stricken areas. One million yuan of her contribution went toward the Xia Sen Scholarship, which has helped 182 impoverished students achieve their college dreams. Professor Li Baoguo of Hebei Agricultural University, who dedicated 35 years to Taihang Mountains, completed 28 studies of mountain development and developed a set of technologies for the intensive farming of chestnuts and the eco-friendly cultivation of apples and walnuts. He afforested 93,333 hectares of barren mountains and led 100,000 farmers to get rid of poverty. The access to Shibadong village in Hunan was improved thanks to infrastructure development, such as road construction, since China launched its fight against poverty. With a booming tourism industry, the beautiful tucked-away village now receives over 2,000 visitors per day. Once with a poverty headcount ratio of 56.8%, Shibadong has seen the average income increase from 1,668 yuan in 2013 to 18,369 in 2020. These attest to the saying that “Happiness only comes with hard work”. Countless Chinese nationals have delivered solid work diligently and selflessly with a go-getter spirit across the country in this smokeless war against poverty for the wellbeing of their compatriots. They have become a living embodiment themselves of the poverty alleviation spirit.
III. Institutional Development Goes A Long Way The victory in poverty alleviation was ultimately driven by the political advantages of China’s Socialist system that can mobilize all necessary inputs into major initiatives and by the CPC’s unparalleled strength in leadership, organization and execution that align the will and actions across the country. In practice, China was dedicated to targeted or precision work by identifying the root causes and tailoring the alleviation efforts on a household-by-household basis. With an investment of 1.6 trillion yuan, China’s poverty relief campaign has accomplished many considerably overdue tasks and resolved many challenges that had laid unsettled for a long time. The Chinese people have moved beyond basic needs and are now able to make a decent living. With universal access to basic healthcare and compulsory education, the Chinese people no longer have to worry about the lack in coverage of hospitals or schools. The Chinese people have already sent the days of dilapidated housing and alkaline water to the dustbin of history and ushered in the time of improved housing conditions and safe water supply. The once inaccessible areas are now fully-connected by well-developed transportation infrastructure. The single-industry economic landscape has been replaced with diversification and competition. The impoverished people worked their way off assistance and established independent livelihoods. Outdated mores were abandoned, while up-to-date practices are celebrated. Each and every change at impoverished areas amounts to a historic achievement. China’s targeted poverty reduction breaks the rule that the marginal utility of alleviation programs declines over time. Despite the fact that a mere 3% of China’s population were left in poverty in 2017, China kept the momentum from 2018 to 2020 and reduced its poor population by 13.86 million, 11.09 million and 5.51 million respectively, which constitutes a historic achievement of eliminating absolute poverty. The resounding victory of poverty eradication substantiates the political advantages of CPC’s leadership and Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and answers the questions concerning why the CPC is a capable leader, why Marxism works and why Socialism with Chinese Characteristics is the only way forward.
As President Xi pointed out, “No other country in history has ever lifted hundreds of million people out of destitution in such a short time. China’s achievement in poverty alleviation is also great news for the world. With the victory, China has contributed its share of efforts to the building of a community with a shared future for mankind!”As comprehensive strategic cooperative partners with similar development experiences, China and Ethiopia can work together to explore a path forward through mutual learning in poverty alleviation and the realization of people’s aspirations for a better life. The Ethiopian government has rolled out a ten-year economic development plan with the goal of building the country into an African Beacon of Prosperity and improving people’s living standards. As a good friend, partner and brother of Ethiopia guided by the principle of sincerity, real results, affinity and good faith, China will further promote practical cooperation with Ethiopia through efforts to synergize development plans and design targeted poverty alleviation projects, so as to help the Ethiopian people accelerate the country’s industrialization and modernization drive, achieve continued progress in job creation and living conditions and keep making strides toward the great national rejuvenation.
Editor’s Note: The views entertained in this article do not necessarily reflect the stance of The Ethiopian Herald
The Ethiopian Herald 21 March 2021
