Poverty eradication remains a common challenge for developing countries around the world. CGTN's Wu Lei spoke with Han Jun, China's Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, on how the country's approach, from targeted poverty alleviation to long-term rural development, could offer practical insights for other nations.
WU LEI CGTN "Five years ago, China announced a complete victory in eliminating absolute poverty, lifting nearly 100 million rural residents out of poverty. A five-year transition period was then put in place to consolidate those achievements, and that period has now concluded. What major measures were adopted to prevent large-scale poverty relapse, and how sustainable are the outcomes today?"
HAN JUN Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs "These past five years served as a critical transition phase – linking poverty alleviation outcomes with rural revitalization. Throughout this period, we maintained overall stability in core support policies. We have successfully met all transition goals and firmly upheld the bottom line: no large-scale return to poverty.
"We established a nationwide monitoring and assistance system to identify households at risk of falling back into poverty. By the end of last year, we had provided timely support to over 7 million monitored individuals, helping them stably eliminate such risks.
"We strengthened industry and employment support. All 832 formerly impoverished counties have now developed distinctive, competitive, and impactful local industries. For five consecutive years, more than 30 million people lifted from poverty have remained steadily employed.
"We also mobilized society-wide collaboration: eight eastern provinces and municipalities are paired with ten western regions in targeted assistance; 310 central government units support 610 counties; 150,000 resident work teams – comprising over 500,000 cadres – serve on the front lines of rural communities; and through the 'Ten Thousand Enterprises Revitalize Ten Thousand Villages' initiative, private companies and social organizations actively contribute to key areas.
"China's poverty reduction model has become one of the most internationally recognized, influential, and inspiring development experiences – widely praised by the global community and offering Chinese solutions and wisdom to the world's anti-poverty efforts."
WU LEI CGTN "At a time when global poverty reduction faces growing uncertainty and complex challenges, what key principles or practical experiences from China's poverty alleviation and rural revitalization efforts do you believe could offer insights for other developing countries?"
HAN JUN Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs "President Xi Jinping has said: 'If China can succeed, so can other developing countries.' Our experience holds real relevance. First, we always put people at the center. Poverty alleviation, at its core, reflects how a nation treats its people. China elevated this mission to a matter of national will, strategy, and action.
"We adhered strictly to a precision-targeted approach. President Xi pioneered the concept of 'targeted poverty alleviation,' requiring accuracy in identifying beneficiaries, tailoring household-level measures, arranging projects, allocating funds, assigning personnel to villages, and evaluating outcomes – ensuring help reached exactly where it was needed.
"We consistently pursued a development-oriented strategy. For those in poverty, true empowerment comes only through acquiring skills, engaging in thriving local industries, and working hard to build their own futures. As we say, they must hold the 'golden key' to happiness themselves.
"Our practice proves that only by shifting from short-term 'blood transfusion' aid to long-term 'blood generation' capacity – by improving conditions, strengthening self-driven growth, and transforming livelihoods – can the roots of poverty be truly eradicated."
WU LEI CGTN "We've brought along a basket of fruits sourced from areas that have recently emerged from poverty. As you mentioned, many of these regions have developed distinctive and competitive local industries. With the transition period now over, how will the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs further support their long-term, sustainable growth to institutionalize poverty prevention and advance rural revitalization across the board?"
HAN JUN Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs "Going forward, we will establish a regular mechanism to integrate routine assistance measures into the rural revitalization strategy for coordinated implementation. After the transition period, existing support policies will remain generally stable, while their implementation methods will be appropriately optimized and adjusted.
"The most critical task remains early detection, early intervention, and early assistance – to promptly eliminate risks of returning to or falling into poverty.
"We will launch a full-chain development program for assisted industries to increase farmers' incomes, guiding formerly impoverished areas to fully tap into their local resource advantages and focus on developing local specialty products and distinctive industries.
"We will spare no effort to broaden employment channels for people lifted out of poverty and improve both the stability and quality of their jobs. We will provide tiered and targeted support to less-developed regions.
"We will enhance endogenous development capacity through robust and effective development-oriented assistance, and safeguard the basic livelihood of vulnerable populations through a sound and comprehensive social security system – thereby permanently upholding the bottom line of preventing large-scale return to or occurrence of poverty."
