China’s annual session of the National People’s Congress ended last week. During this year’s session of the legislative body, much attention was paid to the topic of poverty alleviation, due to the fact that the Chinese government has made it its goal to eradicate poverty from the country by 2020. Various NPC representatives addressed the issue, many of them making points that are of relevance to the work of nonprofits and charities. We have summarized a few of them below:
Gong Puguang (NPC representative and Deputy Minister of Civil Affairs): Also important to focus on urban poverty alleviation
Gong Puguang pointed out that besides the process of poverty alleviation work in rural areas, the need for poverty alleviation in urban areas should also receive attention. In China, the urban poor population can be roughly divided into migrant workers, the unemployed population, and certain special groups. Fellow NPC representative Fu Caixiang said that the dilemma of urban workers still in poverty needs to receive joint efforts from the government and society in the aspects of career training, social security, medical assistance, and state-owned enterprise reform.
Zhao Wanping (NPC representative, Vice President of the Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences): the role of charitable organizations not limited to monetary assistance
Zhao declared that apart from providing monetary assistance, charitable organizations have also helped to deal with many intangible problems in poverty alleviation work. During China’s forty years of reform and opening up, despite the high-speed development of the economy, the country has still lagged relatively far behind in the fields of social enterprises, education and culture, especially in the rural areas. Zhao emphasized the role that charitable organizations can play in helping the poor in terms of education and spirit, and improving their lifestyles and habits.
Wang Liping (NPC representative, chairman of Suqian Guangbo Holding Group): private forces needed to participate in rural revitalization
Wang said that the disparity in urban-rural development and the large population of impoverished people has severely restricted the construction of the “new socialist countryside”. Therefore, he claimed that new policies should be formulated to attract non-governmental forces to join in the building of the new socialist countryside, in order to allow private enterprises to help construct communities, rather than relying solely on industry.
Mao Zhenfang (NPC representative): tailoring the poverty alleviation model with enterprises and professional organizations
In her hometown, Shimian County in Sichuan, Mao has an orange-growing business which has become one of the pillar industries of the county. Its success has benefited from the joint support of the government’s poverty alleviation policies, the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation (CFPA) and some relevant enterprises. Hence Mao declared her support for a cooperative model involving the efforts of professional organizations that work on poverty alleviation, enterprises, and local organizations.
