CPPCC Members on Targeted Poverty Relief

The proposal on the 13th Five-year Plan, adopted by the Fifth Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee last November, stated that China will roll out targeted measures to help its people shake off poverty. In his report on the work of the CPPCC National Committee's Standing Committee on March 3, Yu Zhengsheng, chairman of the CPPCC National Committee, listed poverty relief as a priority of the advisory body in 2016, the first year of the 13th Five-year Plan period. Several CPPCC members expressed their opinions on this topic.

Cao Dewang, a CPPCC National Committee member, president of Fuyao Group and a philanthropist, called for the whole public to contribute to targeted poverty alleviation, and said that entrepreneurs should take the lead, as they have more experience to offer in this regard. “Investigations should be made to find the root cause of poverty, so that both the symptom and the cause can be addressed, and the best results achieved,” he said. Mr. Cao said the Heren Charity Foundation he founded will launch aid projects in at lest five villages in Hubei, Jiangxi and Fujian provinces this year. Specific plans will be drawn after studies on local demographic, resource and ecological conditions.

Huang Ribo, a CPPCC National Committee member and vice chairman of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, hailed on-target poverty alleviation a historic breakthrough. “The old approach of poverty assistance is like sprinkling pepper, stretching the funding too thin and failing to concentrate resources on the areas that need them the most.”

Hailiman, a CPPCC member of the Kirgiz ethnic minority group from Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, said that on-target poverty alleviation is a demanding task that requires patience and solid measures to spot the problems and find solutions.