China - From Poor Areas to Poor People : China's Evolving Poverty Reduction Agenda - An Assessment of Poverty and Inequality in China : Executive Summary

China's progress in poverty reduction over the last 25 years is enviable. One cannot fail to be impressed by what this vast nation of 1.3 billion people has achieved in so little time. In terms of a wide range of indicators, the progress has been remarkable. Poverty in terms of income and consumption has been dramatically reduced. Progress has also been substantial in terms of human development indicators. Most of the millennium development goals have either already been achieved or the country is well on the way to achieving them. As a result of this progress, the country is now at a very different stage of development than it was at the dawn of the economic reforms at the beginning of the 1980s. China's poverty reduction performance has been even more striking. Between 1981 and 2004, the fraction of the population consuming below this poverty line fell from 65 percent to 10 percent, and the absolute number of poor fell from 652 million to 135 million, a decline of over half a billion people. The most rapid declines in poverty, in both the poverty rate and the number of poor, occurred during the 6th, 8th, and 10th plans. During the 7th plan period the number of poor actually rose, while in the 9th plan period, the poverty rate declined only marginally. But the pace of poverty reduction resumed between 2001 and 2004 and there are indications that during the first couple of years of the 11th plan poverty has continued to decline rapidly. The most recent official estimate of rural poverty in China for 2007 puts the number of poor at 14.79 million, or less than 2 percent of the rural population. While there is no official urban poverty line, estimates by others have found poverty levels in urban areas to be negligible using an urban poverty line that is comparable to the official poverty line for rural areas. These estimates thus suggest that only about 1 percent of China's population is currently in extreme poverty. Notwithstanding this tremendous success, the central thesis of this report is that the task of poverty reduction in many ways continues and in some respects has become more demanding.

Bibliographic Details

Main Author:	World Bank
Language:	English
Published:	World Bank 2009-03-01
Subjects:	ABSOLUTE TERMS, ACCESS TO INFORMATION, AGRIBUSINESS ENTERPRISES, AGRICULTURAL EMPLOYMENT, AGRICULTURAL INCOMES, AGRICULTURAL SECTOR, AGRICULTURAL YIELDS, AVERAGE INCIDENCE OF POVERTY, AVERAGE INCOMES, BASIC EDUCATION, BASIC HEALTH, BASIC HEALTHCARE, CASH TRANSFERS, CHRONIC POVERTY, COASTAL REGION, COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION, COMPULSORY EDUCATION, CONSUMER PRICE INDEX, CONSUMPTION POVERTY, CREDIT PROGRAM, CURRENT POVERTY, DECLINE IN POVERTY, DETERMINANTS OF POVERTY, DEVELOPING WORLD, DEVELOPMENT GOALS, DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS, DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY, DISADVANTAGED GROUPS, DIVERSIFICATION, ECONOMIC ACTIVITY, ECONOMIC GROWTH, ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES, ECONOMIC REFORMS, ECONOMICS, EDUCATED WORKERS, EDUCATION LEVEL, EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT, EGALITARIAN DISTRIBUTION, EXCHANGE RATE, EXTERNAL TRADE, EXTREME POVERTY, FARM EMPLOYMENT, FARM INCOME, FARM INCOMES, FARMERS, FOOD NEEDS, FOOD-FOR-WORK, FORM OF POVERTY, GINI INDEX, GROWTH PROCESS, GROWTH RATE, HEADCOUNT RATIO, HEALTH BUDGET, HEALTH EXPENDITURES, HEALTH INSURANCE, HOUSEHOLD BUDGET, HOUSEHOLD INCOME, HOUSEHOLD SURVEY, HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS, HOUSING, HUMAN CAPITAL, HUMAN CAPITAL ENDOWMENTS, HUMAN CAPITAL FORMATION, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, INCIDENCE OF POVERTY, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, INCOME GAP, INCOME GROWTH, INCOME INEQUALITY, INCOME LEVELS, INCOME POVERTY, INCOME SHOCKS, INCOME SUPPORT, INCREASING INEQUALITY, INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT, INDUSTRIAL SECTOR, INEQUALITY, INFORMAL EMPLOYMENT, INSURANCE, LABOR FORCE, LABOR MARKET, LAND MANAGEMENT, MEAN INCOMES, MEANS TESTING, MEASURING POVERTY, NATIONAL POVERTY, NATURAL DISASTERS, OLD AGE, PER CAPITA INCOME, PER CAPITA INCOMES, PER-CAPITA INCOME, POLICY IMPLICATIONS, POLICY ISSUES, POOR, POOR AREAS, POOR COUNTIES, POOR FARMERS, POOR HOUSEHOLDS, POOR LIVING, POOR PEOPLE, POOR PERSON, POOR VILLAGES, POORER AREAS, POVERTY ALLEVIATION, POVERTY ALLEVIATION STRATEGY, POVERTY ASSESSMENT, POVERTY ASSESSMENT TEAM, POVERTY DATA, POVERTY ESTIMATES, POVERTY GAP, POVERTY HEADCOUNT RATE, POVERTY INCIDENCE, POVERTY LEVELS, POVERTY LINE, POVERTY LINES, POVERTY RATE, POVERTY RATES, POVERTY REDUCING, POVERTY REDUCTION, POVERTY REDUCTION EFFORTS, POVERTY REDUCTION PROGRAM, POVERTY REDUCTION PROGRAMS, POVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGY, POVERTY SITUATION, POVERTY THRESHOLD, PRO-POOR, PUBLIC EXPENDITURES, PUBLIC SECTOR, PUBLIC SERVICE, PUBLIC SPENDING, PUBLIC WORKS, PUBLIC WORKS PROGRAMS, RAPID GROWTH, REAL INCOMES, REDUCING POVERTY, REDUCTION IN POVERTY, REGIONAL DISTRIBUTION, REGIONAL INVESTMENT, REGIONAL INVESTMENT CLIMATE, RELATIVE CONTRIBUTION, RISK MANAGEMENT, RURAL, RURAL AREAS, RURAL CREDIT, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, RURAL GROWTH, RURAL HEALTH, RURAL HOUSEHOLD, RURAL HOUSEHOLDS, RURAL INCOME, RURAL INCOMES, RURAL LABOR, RURAL MIGRANTS, RURAL POOR, RURAL POPULATION, RURAL POVERTY, RURAL POVERTY ALLEVIATION, RURAL POVERTY REDUCTION, RURAL PRICES, RURAL WAGES, RURAL WORKERS, SAFETY NET, SAVINGS, SCHOOLING, SOCIAL ASSISTANCE, SOCIAL INSURANCE PROGRAMS, SOCIAL POLICIES, SOCIAL PROTECTION, SOCIAL PROTECTION SPENDING, SOCIAL SECURITY, SQUARED POVERTY GAP, STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES, SUBSISTENCE, TARGETING, TARGETING MECHANISMS, TAXATION, TRANSFER PROGRAMS, UNEMPLOYMENT, URBAN AREAS, URBAN POVERTY, URBAN WORKERS, VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT, VULNERABILITY TO POVERTY, VULNERABLE GROUPS, WELFARE BENEFITS,
Online Access:	http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000333038_20100912231249 https://hdl.handle.net/10986/3199
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