Transcript 中国：农村贫困瞄准策略与完善建议

International Conference on Taking Action
for the World’s Poor and Hungry People
Design and Improvement of Poverty
Targeting in Rural China
Xu Hui
Department of Planning and Finance, China
State Council Leading Group Office of
Poverty Alleviation and Development
Index
1. Poverty targeting and its evolution in
rural China
2. Features of poverty standards in rural
China
3. Challenges and institutional
innovation
Preface
It’s proved by practice that the flexible
and practicable poverty targeting policy
adopted by Chinese Government should be
an important component of Chinese
experiences with rural poverty reduction.
What the speech gives is a brief review
of targeting policy in China, an analysis of
challenges facing it, and
recommendations for institutional
innovation.
1. Poverty targeting and its evolution
1. Define and expand the connotation of rural poverty
Understanding and definition of poverty is the
foundation for strategies, policies and measures to
reduce poverty.
Absolute poverty used to be the focus: the
status of individuals and households with their
income insufficient to sustain basic life.
It was shifted to taking into account both
absolute and relative poverty. Based on sufficient
subsistence, further efforts were made to improve
basic production and living conditions in poor
areas, enhance living quality and capability of the
poor, and reshape the social, economic and cultural
situation in poor areas.
Evolution of rural poverty definition in China
is consistent with that of the international
1. Poverty targeting and its evolution
1.2 Select and identify poverty standard for rural
China
1981：Per capita income 50 RMB and 40 RMB
1984：Per capita income 120 RMB, selfproduced grain 200 kg
1986：Per capita annual income 205 RMB in
1985, Poor rural population 125 million.
Adjusted up to changes of CPI each year
2000，Low income standard appeared to be
per capita income 625 RMB-865RMB that year
1. Poverty targeting and its evolution
1.3 Formulate and timely adjust poverty targeting
policies in rural China
1. Changes of poverty in rural China: from regionbased distribution to dispersed and clustered
distribution
2. Changes of targeting
（1）Fix the targeting scope subject to adjustments
early 1980s：18 poor areas targeted
In 1986, key poor counties for national support
were first selected: counties with farmers’ per capita
annual income lower than 150 RMB and ethnic
minority areas and old revolutionary basis areas
with per capita annual income lower than 200 RMB
in 1985
1. Poverty targeting and its evolution
1.3 Formulate and timely adjust poverty targeting policies
in rural China
In 1994, criteria for selecting key poor counties was
changed: counties with per capita annual income lower
than 400 RMB were covered, and those with the
income over 700 RMB in 1992 graduated from the
coverage. Consequently, 592 key counties came up to
cover over 72% of rural poor in China
（2）Regional targeting and community targeting
combined
Since the 1990s, a shift of focus has been taking
place from regional growth to village-targeted efforts
to reduce poverty. Information is collected throughout
villages within the key poor counties, to produce
records at all levels from households to townships and
to counties, so that support, projects, service and
1. Poverty targeting and its evolution
1.3 Formulate and timely adjust poverty targeting policies in rural
China
（3）Regional targeting, community targeting and individual
targeting are combined to refine the targeting
In 2001, poverty reduction in China entered a new stage, in
which the government adjusted the composition of the 592 key
poor counties, in light of the new fact that the poor swept
villages nationwide despite its relative dominance in the mid and
west. The key poor counties were mainly in the mid and west of
China, but by 2003 the absolute poor covered by key poor
counties was only 60.8% and low incomers was 55.3% of
national total. Taking this into account, 148 thousand key poor
villages were selected to cover 80% of national poor.
1. Poverty targeting and its evolution
1.3 Formulate and timely adjust poverty targeting
policies in rural China
（4）Center on human needs and sharpen the
targeting
It is clearly stipulated by Chinese Government
that poverty reduction efforts in the Eleventh Five
Year Plan for National Economic and Social
Development should be centered on human needs
with priorities of targeting the poor and
implementing supportive polices. In 2005,
information about poor households was collected
cross-nation to identify poor villages and poor
households. Measures including village-based
development, training for labor transfer, and
agricultural industrialization were ensured to
reach households and individuals to really benefit
the poor.
2. Features of poverty targeting
2.1 Base on regional distribution of the poor
Three levels of poor distribution in China:
- Poor areas conglomerated cross administrative
boundaries, with low overall growth and income
- Poor counties, as basic administrative units,
within certain standards and boundaries
- Smaller poor areas within a county connecting
townships and villages that have similar conditions
and economic status
The targeting measures fit the reality and
particularities of poverty distribution in China
2. Features of poverty targeting
2.2
Highlight the targets for support
Entering the new century, the accuracy of
targeting is increasingly emphasized in the
efforts to reduce poverty.
（1）In light of the fact that the poor
concentrate in rural areas, provincial
governments are commissioned to selecting
key poor villages for intensified support by
criteria of per capita annual grain output,
per capita annual income, housing, schooling,
medical care, electric power, roads, safe
drinking water, basic farmland and other
production and living conditions. A total of
148 thousand villages have been targeted to
cover 80% poor.
2. Features of poverty targeting
2.2
Highlight the targets for support
（2）Qualitative and quantitative
analyses are combined to evaluate and
sequence the severity of poverty in key
poor villages to plan for poverty reduction
with the poorest as the priorities.
（3）Participatory approach, like villagers’
meetings and village representatives’
meetings, is adopted to classify rural
households before picking up the poor,
bulleting them and making records for
them.
3. Challenges and institutional
innovation
3.1 Challenges
Challenge 1: How to target more poor?
Three questions need to be answered: poverty
standard, units for poverty reduction and urbanrural integration
- Poverty standards should be produced to reflex
upon poor’s needs and national economic strength
Standards too high: Overstretched targeting
would squander limited resources
Standards too low: Difficult to cover the needed
poor
- Due to increasingly complicated distribution of
and diversified causes to poverty, it is more
difficult to target poor areas and poor population.
3. Challenges and institutional
innovation
3.1 Challenges
Challenge 2: How to tackle profound
characteristics of poverty with targeting?
- Vulnerability of the poor
- Particularities with poverty targeting
Development conditions of areas
inhabited by the poor; living demands of
the poor; economic activities of the poor
- Dynamic targeting is required in order to
follow the changes of poor communities and
poor individuals, so as to raise the accuracy
and efficiency of resources delivery to reduce
poverty.
3. Challenges and institutional
innovation
3.2 Institutional innovation
Facing the challenges, innovation and
enhancement of five targeting approaches
should be the key.
（1）Dynamic targeting
On the basis of sound assessments over
those out of poverty, a mechanism of
inclusion and exclusion of the targets
should be put in place by intervals of 3-5
years, so that the villages and individuals
with sufficient subsistence can graduate
leaving room for those who are eligible
but was previously omitted. This may help
increase the efficiency of dynamic delivery
of poverty reduction funds to maximize
the effects of the resources.
3. Challenges and institutional
innovation
3.2 Institutional innovation
（2）Targeting for different groups
First, by combining cross-nation
uniform criteria and region-specific
criteria for targeting, the poor can be
spotted more accurately and objectively,
to prevent overstretch of the coverage or
overlook of the poor.
Second, by dividing poor villages into
different types and conducting strategic
studies on how to help the poor villages,
the anti-poverty strategy can be more
targeted and more effective.
3. Challenges and institutional
innovation
3.2 Institutional innovation
（3）Massive participation
The capability of the poor communities, groups
and individuals to adapt to market economy and of
self-management and self-development can be
built when they are engaged in the system of
poverty reduction delivery.
（4）Participatory monitoring
A new participatory monitoring system should
be established to involve the roles of poor
households, in which the households monitor the
effects, implementation and results of poverty
reduction policies.
3. Challenges and institutional
innovation
3.2 Institutional innovation
（5）Delivery of poverty reduction
resources
First, minimize the number of
government players in the process of
resources delivery. Financial resources
should be transmitted by region and by
project. Second, stream down levels of
delivery. Current top-down approach of
delivery should be abandoned to remove
middle levels, for central finance to reach
the targets directly, so as to lower costs
and raise efficiency of the delivery. Third,
谢
谢!
Thanks!