Liu Zhengdong seems to be a man on a mission at this year's annual meeting of China's top lawmakers -- to refine the rules on poverty relief.

A deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC), he has attended every session this year, has commented on Premier Wen Jiabao's work report and made suggestions about national policies.

But time and again he has come back to the topic he is most passionate about: How poverty relief could be made more efficient in desolate regions, like Baise, the city he is representing at the sessions.

The city, which lies near the border with Vietnam in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, has pinned its hopes on Liu getting the message across to the nation's top legislators and returning with tangible solutions.

"For years, poverty relief has come in the form of financial transfers from central government, which furnish the poor with basic subsistence," Liu told China Daily on Tuesday. "But to catch up with those in affluent eastern regions, we badly need a creative mode of poverty reduction."

In his speech at the NPC, Premier Wen announced poverty-reduction plans will target rural people with an annual net income below 1,196 yuan (US$175). Baise has at least 170,000 residents who fall into that bracket, said Liu.

Currently, resources and raw materials in many underdeveloped regions -- in the case of Baise, electricity and aluminum -- are transferred to more developed regions for consumption, which delivers taxes to central authorities. Part of this levy is then handed over to poverty relief programs.

But, according to Liu, the city's Party secretary, the money is sometimes redistributed between as many as 17 different departments, with each only receiving tens of thousands of yuan, not enough to fund a major project.

"We need change," he said. "People in Baise cannot beg with a bowl made of gold."

He urged authorities to readjust poverty relief to match local demands.

And given policy support, Baise could blaze a new trail, said Liu.

Aluminum development has a strong footing in Baise, he said, adding he had submitted proposals to the NPC over making Baise a pilot for a cycle economy and help translate the rich resources into wealth for local people.

(China Daily March 11, 2009)