<!--[endif]-->State and Ministerial Policy News:

The central government allocated 15 billion yuan for the enhancement of preschool education in 2015. With the fund, the central government will guide and support local governments to distribute preschool education resources through various approaches such as new construction projects, renovation and expansion projects, government purchased services, and pilot programs of circuit voluntary teaching in remote rural areas. The government also strove to improve subsidiary systems for children, so that children from low income families, orphans, and handicapped children could gain accesses to preschool education.

Source: chinanews.com Aug.24, 2015

China Development Bank supported more than 2.1 million students from low-income families this year. As of 25th August 2015, China Development Bank had received 2.11 million student loan applications, and had signed contracts worth 13.7 billion yuan since the initiation of student loans in early August. The number of applications received and the amount of contracts signed increased by 22% and 33% respectively compared with the same period last year. China Development Bank is expected to grant another 16 billion yuan of loans in 2015 to support another 2.6 million students from low income families. The number of student loan recipients will exceed 15 million.

Source: xinhuanet.com Aug.26, 2015

Local Poverty Alleviation News:

Hebei Province endeavored to advance poverty alleviation through innovated mechanisms and targeted measures. In 2013, Hebei Province re-identified 7,366 poverty-stricken villages with 1.47 million impoverished households, covering 5.12 million people. The government has straightened out the current situation and causes of poverty as well as the needs of the impoverished people, and has achieved people registered as impoverished residents household by household. In 2014, 10 key counties for poverty reduction were lifted out of poverty in Hebei Province. Featuring "combined and targeted measures", poverty alleviation efforts in Hebei Province is mainly about scaling up micro credit, lowering credit standards, and reducing loan requirements.

Source: intl.ce.cn Aug.26, 2015

Gansu Province formulated "three-year plan" for the renovation of dilapidated buildings so as to speed up the renovation of shanty areas and advance monetized resettlement. The "three-year plan" for the renovation of urban shanty areas, which covers 328.5 thousand households including urban dilapidated houses and those in urban villages; second, the renovation of rural dilapidated buildings, covering 420 thousand impoverished households in rural areas; third, the "three-year plan" for infrastructure construction to support the renovation projects mentioned above. By 2017, urban water supply and gas supply will cover 96% and 87% of the population respectively. Sewage discharge rate and hazard-free treatment rate of household garbage will reach 87% and 95% respectively.

Source: chinanews.com Aug.21, 2015

Xi’an City initiated a three-year action plan for poverty alleviation in 2015, aiming at lifting 366 thousand people out of poverty by the end of 2015. By the end of last year, a total of 265.6 thousand people had shaken off poverty with annual per capital income reaching 4,820 yuan. It is estimated that a total of 360 thousand people will be lifted out of poverty by the end of this year.

Source: Xi'an Evening Daily Aug.24, 2015

Public Poverty Alleviation and Charity News：

Chengdu offered a total of 13.87 million yuan grant to 5,524 university students from low-income families. Several charity organizations in Chengdu City, for the first time, jointly carried out financial aid programs for university students from low-income families. By now, applications from 5,524 students have been examined and approved, and a total of 13.87 million yuan will be granted. This year, several charity organizations in Chengdu City even jointly carried out financial aid programs for university students from low-income families to ensure that all of them can go to universities, which was the first time in history.

Source:china.com.cn Aug.25, 2015

During the 13th Five Year Plan, China Southern Power Grid will invest 36.52 billion yuan to develop power grids in contiguous destitute rural areas, which will benefit nearly 8.9 million people living under the poverty line. It is expected that by the end of the 13th Five Year Plan, chances of blackouts in extremely impoverished rural areas will decrease by more than 30%, compared with the situation during the 12th Five Year Plan.

Source:csg.cn Aug. 25, 2015

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Sponsor: International Poverty Reduction Center in China (IPRCC)

Organizer: Poverty Reduction Research Center, Beijing Normal University, China

Contact: Han Mengzhen 84419871     Yu Man 84419861

Email: hanmengzhen@iprcc.org.cn    yuman@iprcc.org.cn