Raising the poverty line


    (China Daily)
    Updated: 2011-03-14 07:54
    Large Medium Small

    Our trouble is not that the wealthy are too wealthy, but that the poor are too poor.

    An obvious approach to narrowing the wealth gap, therefore, is to help those at the bottom in their struggle for subsistence. But this has been a challenging task.

    Related readings:
    Raising the poverty line Narrow social life traps women in poverty
    Raising the poverty line Intensify steps to fight poverty
    Raising the poverty line China's pledge to reduce poverty

    However, the country has made tremendous efforts in the past decades. True, the overall gap between the rich and poor has continued to widen and the corresponding discontent has grown. Yet, there is another side to the picture that should in no way be ignored - the gap would have been much wider were it not for the persistent government-led poverty relief campaigns. Numerous private citizens, institutions and non-governmental organizations have contributed to this undertaking one way or another, but it is the authorities that deserve special credit for their lasting commitment and input.

    Figures from the State Council Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development are solid proof. During the past five years, the number of those officially defined as poor dropped by more than 37 million to less than 27 million. Last year alone, the urban and rural poor declined by 9.09 million. More inspiring however is the government's ambition to "basically eradicate absolute poverty" by 2020, and for the 12th Five-Year Plan Period (2011-2015), it wants to see a "conspicuous reduction" in the number of the impoverished.

    Considering the extent to which poverty has been reduced in the past five years, it might seem that relieving an annual average of 2.7 million people from poverty would be a piece of cake. But this is not a simple game of numbers. On the one hand, the current official poverty line is too low for people to make a decent living. The current official poverty line, which defines people with an annual income of less than 1,196 yuan ($182) as poor, is still way below the United Nations' standard. That is to say, a lot more of our compatriots should be considered poor according to the UN criterion. On the other hand, those living slightly above the official poverty are an extremely vulnerable group that can easily fall back into poverty.

    In dealing with poverty, bringing meaningful improvements into the lives of society's underdogs matters more than simply reducing the number of poor, which depends on how poverty is defined.

    As the country gets increasingly capable financially, and the cost of living continues to rise, there is a pressing need to raise the poverty line so that more people benefit from the fruits of progress.

    (China Daily 03/14/2011 page8)

    最近2018中文字幕在线高清下载| 亚洲国产精品无码久久一线 | 东京热加勒比无码视频| 最近免费中文字幕大全免费版视频| 日韩乱码人妻无码系列中文字幕| 人妻无码中文字幕免费视频蜜桃| 国产又爽又黄无码无遮挡在线观看| 久久无码国产专区精品| 中文字幕乱码一区二区免费| 久久无码人妻一区二区三区午夜| 无码粉嫩小泬无套在线观看| av区无码字幕中文色| 亚洲无码视频在线| 精品久久无码中文字幕| 亚洲AV永久纯肉无码精品动漫 | 亚洲欧美中文字幕| 国产99久久九九精品无码| 亚洲国产精品无码久久98| 最近免费2019中文字幕大全| 欧美 亚洲 日韩 中文2019| 无码人妻丰满熟妇区五十路| 精品无码日韩一区二区三区不卡| 午夜不卡无码中文字幕影院| 国产AⅤ无码专区亚洲AV| 在线中文字幕精品第5页| 最近最新中文字幕完整版| 日韩中文在线视频| 中文字幕在线一区二区在线| 在线中文字幕播放| 国产欧美日韩中文字幕| 亚欧成人中文字幕一区| 91中文字幕yellow字幕网| 日韩乱码人妻无码中文字幕久久| 中文字幕无码成人免费视频| 久久中文字幕精品| 国产区精品一区二区不卡中文| 久久超乳爆乳中文字幕 | 日韩在线中文字幕制服丝袜| 久久精品一区二区三区中文字幕 | 久久午夜夜伦鲁鲁片免费无码影视 | 中文字幕人妻在线视频不卡乱码|