Chapter 1 China’s efforts to alleviate poverty since the reform and opening-up

Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949，and especially since the end of the 1970s，when China introduced the policy of reform and opening-up to the outside world，the Chinese government，while devoting considerable efforts to all-round economic and social development，has implemented a large-scale nationwide program for development-oriented poverty relief in a planned and organized way.Since the mid-1980s，a series of mid-and-long term Aid-the-poor programs have been successively implemented，including the Seven-Year Priority Poverty Alleviation Program （a program designed to lift 80 million people out of absolute poverty in the period of seven years from 1994 to 2000），the Outline for Poverty Alleviation and Development of China’s Rural Areas （2001-2010） and the Outline for Poverty Alleviation and Development of China’s Rural Areas （2011-2020），which have advanced development-oriented poverty reduction in China’s rural areas.

After the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China （CPC），the CPC Central Committee has put development-oriented poverty alleviation high on the agenda of state governance，with a bearing on the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects and the achievement of the first of the Two Centenary Goals.The development-oriented poverty alleviation has become an integral part in pursuing balanced economic，political，cultural，social，and ecological progress，and the Four-pronged Comprehensive Strategy.The targeted poverty relief strategy has also been proposed as China’s strategy for poverty alleviation has entered a new historical period.