When talking about the goal for establishing a generally well-off society by 2020, the 17th CPC National Congress pointed out that there is now a reasonable and even distribution of income. The majority of Chinese people are in the middle-income bracket; and absolute poverty has been eradicated.
China's People's University Professor Zheng Gongcheng believes this goal is both feasible and necessary. The true essence of harmonious social development is to let all citizens enjoy the fruits of social development. The core of poverty alleviation should be the expansion of the middle-income class.
According to statistics, since the reform and opening up, the population of poor people in rural areas was reduced from over 250 million to 20 million. The current definition of absolute poverty is: an annual income that is below 683 yuan. Economists have recently proposed that the government should raise the poverty line and include more people within poverty alleviation objectives.
"In the year 2000, China's population of poor people dropped to about 30 million. However, during the following six or seven years, the poverty population only decreased by 7 to 8 million."
Professor Zheng said, "Of the remaining 20 million, some people have physical disabilities, or have lost the ability to work. Therefore, poverty alleviation work remains still arduous."
By People's Daily Online |
