Poverty alleviation in Ordos

The city was able to achieve such results for a number of reasons:

First, it has strengthened leadership. It has appointed officials to lead the poverty alleviation initiatives and development groups at city and lower levels so that they can personally supervise work, uncover problems, and coordinate departments. This organizational structure has strengthened their sense of responsibility.

Second, Ordos has increased investment and has promoted earmarked city-level poverty alleviation funds. Since the 12th Five Year Plan, the city has poured into poverty alleviation over RMB 1.1 billion, of which RMB 800 million has been used to develop the infrastructure within the Hanggin Banner Poverty Alleviation Demonstration District Project, with the remaining RMB 323.5 million used as special funds supporting 35 villages, 94 industry-led poverty alleviation projects, the establishment of an entrepreneurial start-up fund for ethnic minorities, among other causes.

Third, Ordos has instituted a mechanism to send officials to work as in-village leadership to help lift farmers out of poverty. In 2014, a total of 827 in-village work teams were formed, whereby over 22,000 party officials were sent to live in poverty-stricken villages. As a result of this initiative, all poor households were able to receive direct help.

Fourth, it has promoted innovation to further streamline administrative procedures and empower lower-level administrations. For example, the city has changed how funds were distributed, changing its financial focus to poverty alleviation projects and mutual fund projects. It has thoroughly rebalanced poverty alleviation project rights, transferring approval rights to farmers and herdsmen by allowing them to choose which bank to cooperate with and which project to join. It has increased transparency in fund allocation and has put in place a calculated mechanism for the distribution of financial resources. It has set up special poverty-alleviation-use accounts to ensure that funds are allocated appropriately and in a timely manner. And finally, it has upgraded its evaluation mechanism to better pinpoint areas of responsibility and to further specify the standard and content of poverty alleviation initiatives.

Ordos currently still faces five challenges as it continues to lift more of its citizens out of poverty.

First, the task at hand is no small matter, by any means. Ordos currently has 53,900 people living below the poverty line. Over the years, people with lesser difficulties have all been lifted out of poverty; and so those remaining are also the most difficult to aid. Therefore stronger, better, and more-effective measures are required.

Second, the causes of poverty are complex. Factors such as capital shortage, labor shortage, disease, and children’s schooling all lead to poverty and even to a relapse back into poverty. According to statistics, capital shortage, labor shortage, disease, water and land shortage, lack of skills, and children’s schooling account respectively for 35.7%, 22.6%, 21.7%，12.3%, 7.4%, and 5.5% of the current poor population’s causes of poverty in Ordos. In addition, old age, lack of education, and backward beliefs have also contributed to poverty. Those aged 50 and above, those with only a primary-school education, and those who are illiterate and semi-illiterate account respectively for 32.4%, 41.4%, and 8.4% of the poverty-stricken population in the city. These have all posed great challenges for targeted poverty alleviation.

Third, some of the poverty alleviation projects receive very-little funding. The poor people targeted by such under-funded projects enjoy no specially tailored policies or incentives; and so, in terms of pulling themselves from poverty, they are at a disadvantage. For example, one project to renovate and rebuild unsafe houses had no special discount policies for the poor households, offering financial aid of only RMB 21,500 per household; some families still could not raise the remainder of the funds required and, therefore, could not benefit from the policy. It has been suggested that, in the future, such projects introduce special policies, increase the threshold for financial aid, and ensure that every poor household can truly benefit from the policy.

Fourth, financial poverty alleviation projects usually take too long to carry out from start to finish. Because of complicated loan procedures with financial cooperatives, high thresholds, few locations, and a lack of human resources, such projects usually proceed sluggishly. It has been suggested that the selection range for financial cooperatives be widened and that choices be optimized through market competition, a lower loan threshold, streamlined procedures, inclusion of farmers and herdsmen willing to serve as guarantors in interest discount plans, the quick release of loans when applicants need them, and ensuring that loans are used efficiently and can be paid back.

Fifth, poor farmers and herdsmen can be inefficient, as the use of their family and home as their workplace often leads to scattered and unorganized production. Their production methods and management concepts are outdated, while labor cost and resource waste is high. These factors as well as the small production scale and lack of experienced entrepreneurs have made such individuals vulnerable to market risks.