China, the world leader in poverty reduction, faces mounting
challenges to improve the standards of living for the poor because
of factors including climate change and widening income gaps, a
senior official said yesterday.
"The number of poor population remains large," said Fan
Xiaojian, the minister of the State Council Leading Group Office of
Poverty Alleviation and Development.
Fan was speaking at the opening session of a three-day
conference in Beijing.
The conference, "Taking Action for the World's Poor and Hungry
People", which coincides with the International Day for the
Eradication of Poverty, was jointly organized by the office and
International Food policy Research Institute.
By 2006, there were 21.48 million rural poor still facing
shortages of food and clothing, and 35.5 million low-income
earners. The poor population accounts for 6 percent of the
population in rural areas and 13.7 percent in the western
regions.
Fan said that number would be up to 100 million poor people if
the World Bank measurement of US$1 a day was taken into
account.
China's poverty line benchmark is slightly lower. Extreme
poverty population in rural areas dropped from 250 million in 1978
to 21.48 million in 2006, with incidences of poverty from 30.7
percent to 2.3 percent.
Fan blamed "backward development" in poverty-stricken regions
for slowing the poverty-reduction process.
"The poorest people live in harsh ecological conditions, mostly
in remote areas, where natural resources are scarce, and public
services are less available," Fan said.
The problems become even more acutely affected by rising
disasters caused by climate change. Half of arable land in China is
often affected by natural disasters.
"In addition to natural hazards and personal reasons, market and
policy risks have often led to poverty among farmers who rely on
the traditional agriculture economy," Fan said.
The widening income gap between rural and urban China, between
different regions and groups of residents has not yet been
resolved.
(China Daily October 18, 2007)