Chinese President Xi Jinping, also General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, learns about efforts to advance poverty alleviation in Hongde Village of Wuzhong City, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in northwest China on June 8 (XINHUA) 

The fight against poverty requires perseverance since only two years are left to meet the goal of eradicating extreme poverty by 2020. The task will be extremely arduous. There should be no retreat until a complete victory is won.  

A firm hand in rectifying malpractices in poverty relief is needed. The practices of formalities for formalities' sake and bureaucratism hamper the effective advancement of poverty reduction.  

-Excerpts from Xi's speech at a panel discussion with deputies from Gansu Province at the second session of the 13th National People's Congress on March 7, 2019 

The eastern region and central organizations should increase their support for severely impoverished areas and take more initiative concerning one-to-one assistance.  

Poverty relief officials must go deep into the villages and work hard together with the locals. They must not make token efforts or be slack at work.  

-Excerpts from Xi's speech at a seminar on eliminating poverty in severely impoverished areas on June 23, 2017  

 

Xi Jinping (R, front), General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission, asks local village secretary Gu Shujun (L) about crops production while visiting the family of Gu Chenghu, an impoverished villager in the Gujiatai Village of Longquanguan Township, Fuping County, Hebei Province in north China on December 30, 2012 (XINHUA) 

China has lifted more people out of poverty than any other country, and it was the first to realize the United Nation Millennium Development Goals.  

Our poverty relief goals for the 13th Five-year Plan period (2016-20) are as follows: By 2020, the rural poor will be guaranteed food, clothing, compulsory education, basic medical care, and safe housing; in poverty-stricken areas, the growth rate in rural per capita disposable income will surpass the national average growth rate, and major indicators of basic public services will approach the national average.  

Taking targeted measures to help the impoverished means lifting them out of poverty. We should set a timetable, a step-by-step schedule to complete this poverty relief program, being neither over-conservative nor over-impetuous.  

To eliminate poverty, the impoverished should rely on their own hard work. There is no mountain top we cannot reach; there is no voyage without a final destination.  

-Excerpts from Xi’s speech at the Central Conference on Poverty Alleviation and Development   

Poverty alleviation of the impoverished rural population is our biggest area of weakness. Bringing about a moderately prosperous society in all aspects does not mean that each and every individual is ensured the same level of prosperity, but if the living standards of the currently impoverished rural population of over 70 million do not improve noticeably, our realization of a moderately prosperous society in all aspects will lack credibility.  

-Excerpts from Xi's speech at the second full assembly of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee on October 29, 2015  

 

Xi visits the family of Tang Rongbin, an impoverished villager in the Luotuowan Village of Longquanguan Township, Fuping County, Hebei Province in north China on December 30, 2012 (XINHUA) 

We should pay close attention to people in straitened circumstances, and extend care to them with respect and love. We should do our best to solve their problems and keep their needs and sufferings in mind, and bring the solicitude and concern of the Party and the government to the people in the impoverished areas.  

With regard to completing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, the hardest and most arduous tasks lie in the rural areas and the poverty-stricken regions in particular. We cannot say we have realized a moderately prosperous society if the rural areas, especially the backward parts of the countryside, are left behind.  

We should work together with one heart to put the Party’s policies into full practice, and make every effort to ensure a better life for our fellow-countrymen in the rural areas.    

-Excerpts from Xi’s speech during an inspection of poverty-alleviation and development work in Fuping County, Hebei Province on December 29 and 30, 2012  

The poverty alleviation work is quite arduous, and its completion scheduled for this year has been affected by the novel coronavirus epidemic situation, making the tasks harder to be completed and more demanding. The CPC needs to remain true to its original aspiration, keep its mission firmly in mind, boost confidence and make tenacious efforts to win the battle against poverty across the board, which is a great cause of remarkable significance not only to the Chinese nation but all humans. 

-Excerpts from Xi's speech at a symposium on securing a decisive victory in poverty alleviation in Beijing on March 6, 2020