POVERTY REDUCTION BRIEFING
2014.No.15（01-10 July，2014）

1. Premier Li Keqiang inspected the construction site of the Shanghai-Kunming High-Speed Railway in Changsha, Hu’nan Province, and pointed out that Shanghai-Kunming High-Speed Railway will shorten the distance between East and West China and will benefit farmers in poor mountainous areas. Li stressed that the railway should be built for not only economic but also social benefit to achieve balanced regional economic and social development.
Source: www.xinhuanet.comJuly 3, 2014

2. People’s Bank of China requires that financial institutions in China should provide better financial service of poverty alleviation and economic development. It is reported that by the end of March, 2014, total deposit balance in China’s poverty regions reached 5.87 trillion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 13.6%, 2.2 percentage point higher than the national average; the total balance of RMB loans in China’s poverty regions has reached 2.89 trillion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 19.4%, 5.5 percentage point higher than the national average.
Source: www.chinanews.com July 1, 2014

3. General Office of Ministry of Agriculture released three standards for farms to be considered as having shaken off poverty during the period of the12thFive-YearPlan. The standards were formulated by competent authorities of the reclamation area and include three aspects: firstly, the farm infrastructures are improved remarkably, and the disaster-resistant capacity greatly enhanced; secondly, the farm’s operational status is improving, gaining profits for three consecutive years, with initial self-development capacity; thirdly, employees can get stable income and per capita net income reaches the average income level of reclamation areas.
Source: www.cqn.com.cn July 1, 2014

4. Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region plans to guarantee the Five Basic Necessities of villagers in 2834 designated impoverished villages in four years’ time. The details are: poor people will no longer worry about the shortage of food and clothes; compulsory education, health care and housing will be improved; per capita income will reach 6,000 yuan; and the goal of “ten coverage”* in all the villages and pasturing areas in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region will be achieved.
* “Ten coverage” means that ten social security measures, including transforming dilapidated houses, paving streets, building schools (and make schools safe), standard clinics, cultural activities rooms, and supermarkets, and providing clean water, electricity supply, broadcasting services, television and telecommunication, and old-age, medical and minimum living insurance, should be covered in all the villages and pasturing areas in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
Source: www.xinhuanet.com July 3, 2014

5. The poverty alleviation policy of providing micro loans to poor households will be implemented in all the impoverished counties in Shanxi Province. Pilot projects will be carried out in seven impoverished counties including Lan County and Xing County in Lv-liangshan MountainArea this year. It is reported that 35 keycounties are includedinthenationalplanforpovertyalleviationand development in Shanxi Province. Furthermore, 21 counties in continuous impoverished areas of Lv-liangshan Mountain and Yan-Taihang Mountain in Shanxi Province are listed in the new national poverty alleviation plan.
Source: www.xinhuanet.com July 2, 2014

6. More high school students from villages in impoverished areas in Gansu Province can enjoy preferential enrollment policies by universities this year. Preferential policies are made to recruit more students from the 58 counties in continuous impoverished areas in Gansu Province. The Provincial Education Department of Gansu declared that 72 universities included in Project “211” or “985” will make special plans to independently recruit students in rural areas in Gansu Province. Until now, there are 1125 qualified candidates.
Source: www.xinhuanet.com July 1, 2014

7. From this year to 2020, 800 science and technology commissioners in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region are planned to be selected to carry out poverty alleviation of science and technology in 50 impoverished counties, to provide scientific and technological skills and talents for the economic and social development and ecological construction in the impoverished counties. It is reported that the commissioners will be selected from research institutions, universities and vocational schools of all levels in Guangxi, and from enterprises and public institutions at municipal and ergional levels of the county. The commissioners will serve a term of 1 to 5 years.
Source: www.xinhuanet.com July 2, 2014

8. Liaoning Province will further improve the support mechanism of sending cadres to aid the villages, and working teams will be sent to 1790 impoverished villages in the whole province. It is reported that the project duration is 3 years and the teams will be well positioned before 30th Juneand be sent to the impoverished villages before the end of July.
Source: Farmer’s Daily July 2, 2014

9. Ministry of Science and Technology held the launch meeting in Chongqing Municipality to implement the special plan of sending scientific and technological personnels and providing professional training for remote poverty-stricken areas, ethnicminorityareas intheborderlands and old revolutionary base areas. According to the special plan, 20,000 scientific and technological personnels will be selected and sent to the above three areasevery year, and 2,500 local personnels will be trained until 2020.
Source: www.most.gov.cn July 4, 2014

10. Until now, 146 thousand impoverished disabled people in rural China have benefited from the “Project to Help Disable People and Alleviating Poverty by Rural Grassroots CPC Organizations”. With the help and leadership of grassroots CPC organizations, the basic living standards of the rural households of disabled people with an annual per capita net income that lower than the poverty line have been improved.
Source: Economic Daily July 4, 2014

11. Yunnan Provincial Government funded scholarships to help more excellent Yunnan poor undergraduates with excellent performance to complete their education. It is reported that among the 4000 impoverished undergraduates from Yunnan who enter the university affiliated to central ministries and commissionswill get an annual subsidy of 5,000 yuan.
Source: Spring City Evening July 2, 2014

12. Rural impoverished senior citizens in Shanxi Province will enjoy greater support from financial support and funds of relief mechanism at provincial,municipal and county level. At present, among 1981 rural impoverished senior citizens, each has received 500 yuan of governmental aid.
Source: Taiyuan Evening July 1, 2014
Organizer: Beijing Normal University China Poverty Reduction Research Center