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More sectors urged to help tackle poverty
By Jiang Zhuqing (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-05-28 08:50
Non-governmental sectors should be further mobilized as it is not enough to
depend only on governments and financial allocations in tackling the poverty
reduction challenges, a senior official said yesterday.
"It is a unique creation to utilize an anti-poverty association system that
combines efforts from government and enterprises, home and abroad, as well as
eastern and western regions," Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai said at the third
congress of the Association for Underdeveloped Regions in China (AURC).
Statistics indicated that more than 26 million people live in abject poverty
in the countryside, and 50 million more with comparatively low incomes could
easily fall into poverty if they face sudden difficulties, such as natural
disasters or illness.
"Sticking to a sustainable development strategy of anti-poverty projects, a
pattern of mutual benefit will be realized in prosperity (of poor people) and
making profits for the enterprises (that administer the projects)," said Hu
Fuguo, the newly-elected chairman of the association.
Established in 1993, the AURC has conducted the anti-poverty strategy through
industrial development between enterprises, mainly privately-owned ones, with
hundreds of thousands of local farmers in different regions.
Under the guidance of Jiuhua Agriculture and Trading Co Ltd, more than
200,000 poor farmers in more than 50 villages in Huidong County of Guangdong
Province defeated poverty and became rich by planting potatoes.
"In China, poverty reduction mainly depends on the efforts of governments;
meanwhile, non-governmental organizations can also play a supplementary
function," said Xiao Zhuoji, a professor at Peking University.
He suggested that the nation should adopt measures to equalize education
between rural and urban areas, increase job opportunities and give more
financial support to disadvantaged groups and under-developed regions.
Poverty alleviation is not only a fundamental requirement of socialism, but
also a course full of business opportunities, said Hu Deping, vice-chairman of
the China Society for Promotion of the Guangcai Programme.
The non-government organization encourages private entrepreneurs to invest in
development projects in less-developed areas, thereby improving living
conditions and creating more job opportunities, Hu said.
More than 14,000 private entrepreneurs attended the Guangcai Programme during
the past 10 years to help millions of people get out of poverty, statistics
indicated.
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