NEWS//Is China poverty-free?
On February 26, China's President Xi celebrated that under his government "all people in rural areas across the country have been lifted out of poverty." He claimed his actions brought about a “complete victory” and a “miracle,” all 10 years ahead of the UN goal deadline.
Xi celebrates victory
“I insisted on looking at real poverty, understanding the real efforts to reduce poverty, helping those who are in real poverty, and achieving real poverty alleviation,” said Xi. He noted that all of the 832 formerly impoverished counties and 1,28,000 formerly impoverished villages have been removed from China's poverty list.
Is the war won?
Clearly, China has helped many millions of people increase their standard of living. But as others outside of China have looked at China's poverty statistics, doubts about Xi's self-stated accomplishments are on the rise. For example,
China's claim to have eliminated poverty is based on its definition of poverty. Chinese are below the poverty line if they earn less than $2.30 per day. In some countries, the living standard is sufficiently low that people may eke out a living at $2.30 per day. China is not one of those countries. Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, or Guangzhou, which are all listed among the 20 most expensive cities in the world.
According to the World Bank, 373 million or about 27% of the people in China should be considered poor.
If poverty in China is defined relative to the median income (that is, counting as poor those whose income is less than 50% of the median), then the poor in China are around 20% of the population.
Falsified statistics in China also cast doubt on China's poverty figures. According to Bitter Winter, scholars of corruption in China found more than 200,000 cases in three years (2016, 2017, and 2018) of local bureaucrats investigated for tampering with poverty data.
In January, former World Bank expert Indermit Gill argued China is almost as well off as the United States was in 1960 when it became a high-income country. But Gill said that based on the U.S. income standard from that era, as many as 90% of China‘s people would be considered poor. “If our numbers are correct, China is years - if not decades - behind schedule,” Gill wrote.
UPDATE (March 16, 2021): This four-minute video affirms President Xi’s commitment to eradicating poverty in China. See it here.
Sources: Washington Times, Bitter Winter, Daily News Brief, Yahoo Finance