Material 1 for the press conference of the State Council Information Office

Speech at the press conference of

the State Council Information Office

(Oct 14th, 2014)

Vice Minister of the State Council Leading Group Office of

Poverty Alleviation and Development of China

Zheng Wenkai

Ladies and gentlemen, friends from the press,

Good morning! Welcome youto attend today’s press conference for the China Poverty Alleviation Day. First, I would like to thank you all for your continued support forChina’s poverty reduction program. Now I would like to brief you on the newly-established “China Poverty Alleviation Day”.

On August 1st 2014, the State Council approved in its Circular No.97 (Approval of the State Council for Establishing “China Poverty Alleviation Day”) the set-up of an annual China Poverty Alleviation Day on October 17th and commissioned Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development (LGOP) to consult relevant authorities for observance activities. This initiative fully reflects the government’s concern for the people in poverty and its determination to stop intergenerational transmission of poverty.

Since reform and opening-up, and especially since mid-1980s when China began rolling out poverty reduction programs in an organized way, we have gained remarkable achievements in our efforts to address poverty, contributing significantly to our economic progress, political stability, ethnic unity, frontier security and social harmony as well as to global efforts to alleviate poverty. However, for many reasons, China is still facing severe poverty. First, a huge number of people are in poverty.82.49 million people are still trapped in poverty according to China's poverty line, and 200 million according to the international one. Second, poverty is severe. Not only are poor people poorly paid, but also, in some places, beset by unavailability of water, road, electricity, school, heath-care and loan. Third, there are lots of difficulties in solving the problem. Poor populations are concentrated in extremely poor contiguous regions with poor living conditions, frequent natural disasters and inadequate infrastructure. Admittedly, it’s a tough nut to crack. Poverty is a weak point for our goal of building a Xiaokang (moderately prosperous) society in all respects by 2020. To overcome this weakness, all stakeholders must play their roles and form a synergy.

China has successfully developed a China-style approach to reduce poverty, an approach defined by the leading role of the government, which is a true testimony to the Party’s purpose, government’s commitment and socialism’s superiority. With economic growth and income increase, more and more private enterprises, social organizations and individuals are willing and able to participate in poverty alleviation. So a platform to unlock potential and encourage participation needs to be built so that those willing helpers and donors would have a channel to support the poor. The primary purpose of the Day is to turn public attention to poverty, people in poverty and efforts to fight poverty by launching role model campaigns, advocating philanthropic behaviors, mobilizing communities, and creating a positive atmosphere.

This year marks the first ever “China Poverty Alleviation Day”, so a good start is crucial to sustained and sound development of observance activities in the future. For this year’s China Poverty Alleviation Day, we will initiate the following activities legitimately, transparently, pragmatically and effectively: First, hold a teleconference on poverty reduction by society. Hold a national teleconference on society-based approach to poverty reduction by the State Council to summarize best practices, commend role models, arrange work for the next stage and initiate the first activity for China Poverty Alleviation Day. Second, hold a seminar on poverty reduction by society. Invite entrepreneurs, experts social organizations and individuals engaged in poverty alleviation to discuss their feelings of engagement in poverty alleviation and new approaches to deepen social participation. Third, hold “10·17 Forum”. Jointly initiated by Peking University, Tsinghua University and other institutions, the Forum this year will bring participants together to have discussions around the theme of “Shared Prosperity through Poverty Reduction”. Fourth, organize special campaigns. Mobilize central and national authorities, the military and armed police forces, students, young citizens, state-owned enterprises and private businesses as well as energy, tourism and e-commerce sectors to participate in observance activities through various forms. Fifth, organize publicity campaigns. Publicize China's development-oriented poverty alleviation approaches and best practices of public participation in poverty reduction efforts through media reports; organize logo design and public-benefit advertisements competitions.Provincial authorities and relevant institutions will conduct various kinds of observance activities as well.

We must enhance institutional building from the start of the observance activities to ensure its sustained and sound development. To strengthen monitoring and management, we willdesign rules and codes of conduct for fundraising, fund use, management and supervision, disclosure and announcement, implementation and effectiveness evaluation to make sure that funds are used to projects most needed by poor regions and poor people.

That’s all for my introduction. Now, my colleagues and I are ready to take your questions.