China’s poverty rate – defined as the percentage of people living on the equivalent of US$1.90 or less per day – fell from 88 per cent in 1981 to 0.7 per cent in 2015.. Illustration: Kuen Lau
China’s subsidies lifting rural villages out of poverty, but is Xi Jinping’s plan sustainable?
- In 2015, President Xi Jinping set a deadline of 2020 to eradicate poverty in China, with 850 million Chinese taken out of extreme poverty in the past 40 years
- One village in Southeastern Jiangxi province has benefited from government help, but it faces an uncertain future without a sustainable source of revenue
China’s poverty rate – defined as the percentage of people living on the equivalent of US$1.90 or less per day – fell from 88 per cent in 1981 to 0.7 per cent in 2015.. Illustration: Kuen Lau