context: The stage is being set to declare a decisive victory over absolute poverty soon. Vice-minister of Civil Affairs declared on the same day that all registered impoverished households were now recipients of minimum social security, i.e. de facto lifted out of absolute poverty.
Xinhua reports that the nine remaining impoverished counties in Guizhou province were declared rid of absolute poverty on 23 Nov 2020. This brings to completion the alleviation efforts of the past years across 832 counties. The last ethnic groups considered to live under absolute poverty, in Yunnan, Xinjiang, and Guangxi, were declared lifted out of absolute poverty on 24 Nov 2011, it also notes. Localities are eligible for the new status once the occurrence rate of absolute poverty falls below 2 percent, 3 percent in western regions, Xinhua explains.
That all counties are now lifted out of poverty does not mean the poverty alleviation targets have been fully met just yet, Xia Gengsheng 夏更生 State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development vice-director told People Daily. Spot and regular inspections of the said localities first need to be conducted. The lingering shortcomings identified by the various inspection teams will then need to addressed, he continues. In time, it is the Party Centre that will declare the final victory of the war against poverty.