January 08, 2018

Chinese poverty coming to an end

located:	China
editor:	Gurmeet Singh

China aims to eradicate extreme poverty by 2020. A noble cause, and one we should all fully support. However, to do so, it will forcibly relocate people from their rural homes, to government-subsidised ones in urban areas, or to slightly less precarious regions in the countryside.

China defines its poverty line as living on less than (roughly) 80 US Cents per day. There are communities, particularly in the west of the country, and particularly ethnic minorities who live on significantly less than that.

Therefore, China's moves can only be a good thing to raise the living standard, and therefore life chances of its citizens. However, its brutal methods (which are explicitly part of Xi Xinping's plan) are reminiscent of 20th Century methods to lift people out of poverty: by forcing them to move from the countryside (or in some cases, by forcing them to remain), encouraging them to not have children, and navigating their career choices. It may be in the greater interest for the people, and the country – but it is China's willingness to overlook individualistic concern for holistic benefit that is always surprising.

We can already imagine how people will react when forced from their homes – even if it is to supposedly be relocated to 'better' accommodation in an urban area. When communities are tied to the land through ancestry and upbringing, then it stands to reason that they will not be so easily persuaded by claims of 'rational advantage' or 'advancement'.

Furthermore, the entire scheme raises the question of just how China has been able to effectively take people out of poverty, and potentially, it is because it has exploited other nations, and kept millions of citizens in extreme poverty. The share of the global population in extreme poverty with and without China hardly differs (yet China reduced its extreme poverty from the 1980s), so the argument that what benefits China benefits the rest of the world, isn't so clear cut.

Nevertheless, eradicating poverty is a crucial issue of our future. Let's hope it helps those it is intending to help.