Documentary 'Farewell to Poverty' shows the road to zero poverty

[Music] china is a mountainous country mountains and plateaus above 500 meters account for around 60 percent of its land area and hills with an altitude of 200 to 500 meters for a further 10 percent planes cover just 12 percent of the territory the mountains create severe difficulties for the people living among them and represent a huge challenge for china's poverty alleviation campaign in fujian province is a southern county where mountains and hills occupy 71 of the land area [Music] it's also a key target of the poverty alleviation drive in the mid 20th century due to deforestation severe soil erosion affected nearly a third of the county half a century ago this was an area of bare mountains turbid waters barren fields and poor people on november the 27th 1999 xi jinping who was acting governor of fujian province at the time inspected changting county he gave instructions for improving soil and water conservation and called for a major effort to control soil erosion [Music] over the next 10 years two-thirds of the area suffering from soil erosion was improved and forest coverage was increased to nearly eighty percent in changting a green industry was beginning to flourish ishao jun runs the green dream family farm she was the first person in changting to get rich through the green industry the green dream family farm started from a few acres of wasteland under the expert guidance of the local forestry department and with help from the government's poverty alleviation policies he steadily expanded the business began working with 23 poor families in the town encouraging them to go green these families have all lifted themselves out of poverty and are now earning between five thousand and thirty thousand yuan more each year has contracted with 60 cooperatives and major farmers in 18 villages and towns in the county to sell 112 types of agricultural produce [Music] a family farm is now an integrated operation incorporating e-commerce sales of agricultural produce fruit picking and sightseeing county with its barren mountains limited arable land and severe soil erosion used to be one of the poorest places in fujian province party secretary wu chang was determined to find a way of lifting the village out of poverty the villagers transformed over 200 hectares of barren mountains created almost 100 hectares of forests and reclaimed over 100 hectares of wild bamboo forests with support from the local forestry department in the form of seedlings fertilizers and technologies they also cultivated cash crops [Music] [Music] has built a development model that draws all the poor households in the village into a cooperative focusing on forest based industries the dividends they receive and the payment for their labor have been enough to lift them out of poverty the forestry economy has enabled them to get rich without damaging the environment the village has also combined land ownership so that each household's small plot can be used in large-scale planting in addition to chinese herbal medicines they have also planted valuable tree species such as nanmu interspersed in the forests [Music] in another innovation they have introduced high-value hertian chickens into the forest the vibrant green industry has brought about an increase in the village's annual income of more than a million yuan xiang zhao's 700 hectares of once barren hills have become a green bank changting's success in soil erosion control and green development is popularly known in china as the chongqing experience on december the 10th 2011 people's daily published an article under the headline baron hills become forests of flowers and fruit it described chong ting county's historic achievement in transforming bear mountains into ecological hot spots it reported that by becoming a model in ecological poverty alleviation the county had proved that lucid waters and lush mountains can be invaluable assets forestry development has natural advantages and great potential in promoting economic activity in areas of extreme poverty the entry threshold is low it's easy to organize and implement and it promises a stable income it makes it possible through ecological engineering increased ecological compensation and innovative poverty alleviation methods to achieve a win-win outcome combining poverty alleviation and ecological conservation china's vast territory encompasses huge regional differences this means that ecological poverty alleviation needs to adapt to the local conditions on average hotan county in xinjiang experiences just under 33 days of sandstorms a year and 53 days of high winds for over 200 days it suffers from dust clouds with the quantity of dust deposited per square kilometer amounting to over 600 tons in such a harsh environment traditional tree planting and desert control methods have limited effect but now the spring of ecological poverty alleviation has come to hawtown county seen in greenhouses in new villages song zongkur is an agricultural technician he's very popular with the farmers because he teaches them to grow tomatoes peppers strawberries zucchini and other crops [Music] the windproof and drought-resistant greenhouses are the means by which hotan's residents can lift themselves out of poverty [Music] under the poverty alleviation programme roetzer's family were moved to a new village song zong kerr has taught reitzer how to grow greenhouse peaches ruertser has now contracted four greenhouses he has not only lifted his family out of poverty but also become in his own right a specialist in desert cultivation who helps his fellow villagers [Music] [Music] [Music] was once extremely poor first secretary gwar chuan fung and the village poverty alleviation team insisted there could be no let up in the effort to lift themselves out of poverty first secretaries have been appointed to 128 000 poverty-stricken villages across china their primary task is to lead the poverty alleviation work [Music] they have made a huge difference in horton [Music] the village road has been paved and hundreds of meters of grape trellises extend along both sides of it every courtyard has a greenhouse where fruit and vegetables are cultivated [Music] but the most important thing is securing water as long as there's sufficient water the whole area will become vibrant but water is very expensive here so households employ the highly economical drip irrigation techniques everyone in kumu bago village grows their own vegetables which form part of a very healthy diet selling their produce also earns them a significant income [Music] kumu bagur is well on the way to green development [Music] [Music] oh [Music] foreign is the second largest desert in the world here the annual precipitation is only a few dozen millimeters yet the evaporation rate is more than a hundred times greater part of horton county is located in the desert in the past anyone who proposed planting grass and trees here would have been considered insane but now bulldozers have cleared away the sand dunes to create vast areas suitable for cultivation high-tech sand control is making dreams come true wang zhi xiang is an expert on desert soil at chongqing's zhaotong university he has been working in the desert of southern xinjiang for the past two years with a view to developing ways of alleviating poverty with the help of ecological technology the research team at chongqing's university has been studying what's called desert soilization since 2009 this technology enables sand to acquire the properties of soil so that it has the ability to retain water nutrients and oxygen and to breed microorganisms the technology of transforming sand into soil is creating an ecological miracle in the desert mountainous areas forests and deserts these are the areas that are most closely associated with poverty in view of this the government has carried out a series of major projects to protect and develop the environment in selected regions these projects create opportunities for the local poor to earn money and have also laid a solid foundation for sustainable development in poverty-stricken areas [Music] [Music] in alleviating poverty access to education plays a key role education is an important way of ensuring that poverty is not passed on to the next generation to this end it's essential to act to stop children from impoverished families dropping out of school in the past five years the chinese government has subsidized the education of 390 million students it has also helped 40 million rural students through the better nutrition plan and assisted 93 of disabled children so that they receive an education in 2011 the state council launched the better nutrition plan for rural students in an effort to promote free nutritious meals throughout the country under the plan the central government provides nutritional and dietary subsidies to the tune of three un per qualified student per day [Music] a pilot better nutrition plan for rural students was launched in 65 counties in guajillo province in the spring semester of 2012. by 2014 the provision of nutritious meals for primary and secondary school students in rural areas extended to every county in guejo benefiting almost 4 million students this meant the problem of malnutrition among children in gwajas poverty-stricken areas was basically solved [Music] changshun county is located in the west of gwajo's chen-nan prefecture in the past getting to school meant climbing a mountain for most of the rural students for some children it involved walking for several hours each day [Music] in recent years boarding schools have been established so that students in mountainous areas no longer have to travel long distances to school but this raised another issue how to feed them in areas where children commonly eat poorly the government's better nutrition plan fundamentally solved this problem bayoon shan town central school is the largest rural boarding primary school in changshun county here the canteen can accommodate 400 children at a time it ensures that the children enjoy a nutritious and diverse diet [Music] the students all say that their school meals are much better than anything they eat at home the poorest students are no longer hungry and can concentrate on their studies in recent years there has been a clear improvement in the student's appearance their hair is lustrous their complexion is florid and they are taller [Applause] foreign foreign foreign [Music] all the ingredients in the school canteen are purchased and supplied via a distribution center the whole process is supervised in a real-time transparent manner the food is purchased by buyers directly from the farms and subjected to professional inspection be providing nutritious meals for rural school children is a major item of government expenditure under the comprehensive national poverty alleviation plan the scheme is being promoted particularly in remote mountainous and desert areas the site of rural students bringing their own desks and chairs with them and sleeping in shared beds in dangerous buildings has now been consigned to history [Music] even in china's most remote villages and mountainous areas there are well-appointed schools and excellent teachers providing the students with various extracurricular activities the exposure to a more modern education is offering the children more possibilities for their future development enforcing compulsory education in poverty stricken areas improving all around population quality and preventing poverty from being passed on to the next generation all this forms the essence of poverty alleviation through education on the afternoon of february the 3rd 2013 xi jinping visited bulango village in ningxia hue autonomous prefecture home to an ethnic dongshan community at the house of ma mai jo she inquired into every aspect of the family's livelihood what they ate what subsistence allowances they received their medical treatment and their children's education since then xi jinping has visited every area of extreme poverty in china [Music] also gave some school supplies to ma mai jo's two sons one of them zhong is now a high school junior [Music] the cost of children's education can be high so much so that it can reduce a family to poverty dongxiang county has launched a scheme encouraging private investment in education a number of socially responsible enterprises have already [Music] [Music] departments to visit its schools villages and families their investigations into the circumstances of households living below the poverty line have helped to establish a dynamic database by referring to it a targeted poverty alleviation system has been constructed covering poor students preschool compulsory high school and higher education the county has established a financial aid mechanism for college freshmen worth 200 000 un it's also implementing a plan involving various government departments to set up education support funds and solicit donations for three years college freshmen from poor families received a one-time subsidy of over two thousand yuan each the amount has gradually increased to reach over three thousand yuan now how village and town governments go about providing loans for college students is included in their performance [Music] appraisals foreign [Music] there was a time when being unable to afford an education was a source of huge disappointment for many students who dreamed of a bright future today the education aid system covers every level from pre-school to postgraduate this ensures that no students drop out of school due to financial reasons ma shin has been a student at northwest normal university since 2015. she is a beneficiary of dongxiang's poverty alleviation through education policy she's about to graduate and her first thought is to return home as a teacher and give something back to her hometown [Music] it's a fundamental policy and poverty alleviation that children in poor areas should be educated and cultivated in 2013 four major automobile enterprises faw saic chiang aang and byd acting with the fuping county vocational education school established the fuping mung shan automobile training base subsequently five property management companies established the fuping mongxian intelligent building base guided by the needs of the enterprises involved the two bases designed their own curricula recruited teaching staff and established scholarships they also introduced advanced training methods such as project learning case studies and practical teaching the fuping county vocational education school by connecting with high quality enterprises and trade associations has created a model of employment before graduation by integrating education and industry study and employment it helps its students to find jobs and thus lift their families out of poverty [Music] the national policy of poverty alleviation through education has drawn china's academic circles into the war on poverty at the southwestern university of finance and economics the research institute of economics and management has promoted a plan called labor income reward in poor rural areas of labor county sichuan province the main thrust of the plan is to encourage capable poor households to increase their income by rewarding them for working hard they receive cash bonuses proportionate to their income this approach aimed at encouraging poor households to escape poverty quickly in effect replaces subsidies with [Music] incentives [Music] is one of the pilot villages in the labour income reward plan young gurpor's family is registered as poverty stricken years of inefficient pig and crop farming had left them desperately poor but the labor income reward plan has had a powerful motivating effect on them they added chickens to their farming portfolio and have also taken on jobs such as forest ranger [Music] as a result their income soared in 2018 alone young gurbal received an average bonus of one thousand yen every quarter now he has not only escaped poverty also a cooperative chicken farm he established is helping the entire village to get rich [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] the labor income reward plan alleviates poverty by encouraging people to act and motivating them if a poor household doesn't have a strong enough desire to escape poverty independently and simply relies on aid they can only be helped in the short term through a transfusion of funds the incentive scheme stimulates villagers motivation to start their own businesses you in august 2017 a poverty alleviation project team sent by ping un property insurance arrived in taijiang they wanted to explore a potential new model of poverty alleviation that accorded with the features of the area investigation and research into numerous factors such as the local advantages environment natural features and local regulations led the team to focus on edible funguses they set about creating the taijiang model a brand new approach that promoted poverty alleviation through industrial development based on interest-free guarantee-free insurance the team paid regular visits to inform the poverty-stricken families about the taijiang model [Music] foreign the battle against poverty is tough and to win it the key is to help the poor to help themselves the taejang model with its new products and new approaches to poverty alleviation has now been introduced in 10 other provinces funan county in anhui province is a key target of poverty alleviation and development here agriculture is the main industry yet the soil is barren and more than half of the cultivated land is hilly and low-lying the area is frequently afflicted by drought and flooding the county has been poverty-stricken since the 1980s wang shing's family used to be desperately poor his father was unable to work and his mother was frail his sister and brother were still at school the family was also in debt wang xing dropped out of school at the age of 15 to help his mother support the family and so at the age of 15 to support his family wang would regularly go to the county market to sell their produce while also helping his mother with the farm work soon discovered that funan county's major agricultural product peppers often failed to sell even though they are heavy tasty and bright in color [Music] after drying they can be turned into top grade powder or granules yet the farmers struggled to sell what they grew which meant they often toiled in vain vietnam kenya [Music] he attended a farming skills training program organized by the local government and being clever and studious he excelled he also worked to develop new sales and delivery channels through which the villagers could sell their peppers for a good price [Music] [Music] and improving his business coincided with the period when the national poverty alleviation campaign was being stepped up having made the most of various talent training schemes assistance measures and preferential policies and being studious and diligent he eventually realized his dream of making his family rich [Music] [Music] is a famous pepper production base wang ching is still working to make the best possible use of the local geographical advantages to improve his pepper business [Music] [Music] [Music] thanks to his commitment and professional skills managed to find a market for the local agricultural produce and helped the local pepper farmers to increase their income he has also benefited personally his family have now paid off all their debts and built themselves a new household [Music] stimulating the desire to escape poverty and get rich through hard work is the key to promoting self-development in poverty-stricken areas only with this aspiration can poor households find support and only after they are lifted out of poverty can they through sustained hard work achieve even greater prosperity wang inspirational story is an example of this [Music] improved healthcare is another important component of the national poverty alleviation strategy in the poorest areas the possibility of falling ill is the source of constant worry for farmers a focus of targeted poverty alleviation is to prevent people being rendered bankrupt by costly medical bills a nationwide effort is underway to address the issue of poverty brought about by illness [Music] in wushu county xinjiang a new multi-level medical screening and treatment model is being created that will reduce medical costs for [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] here as a part of the effort to alleviate poverty through improved health care they are implementing three campaigns social security coverage is being improved for serious diseases centralized treatment is provided for the seriously ill and a contracted service is offered in cases of chronic disease in addition compensation standards have been raised for poor patients under the new rural cooperative medical system and insurance is available against serious illnesses [Music] [Music] [Music] targeted long-term health-related poverty alleviation measures basically ensure that no one is reduced to poverty due to falling ill to people living in poverty stricken areas healthy china is much more than a slogan it represents a safety net they can rely on in fighting both illness and poverty [Music] [Music] through fostering industries encouraging relocation restoring the environment strengthening education and improving social security china has created a miracle in the global fight against poverty the un's millennium development goals 2015 stated that china had contributed over 70 percent to global poverty reduction the economist said china has been a hero of the world's poverty reduction efforts in october 2017 the global poverty reduction and development forum was held in beijing in his congratulatory message un secretary general antonio guterres said that china's remarkable achievements in poverty reduction were having a positive spillover effect on the whole world on september the 25th 2015 the un leaders summit on sustainable development was held at the united nations headquarters it adopted the 2030 agenda for sustainable development the agenda set many sustainable development goals one of which was eliminating all forms of poverty in the world china with its targeted strategy has met the goals on poverty alleviation in the agenda for sustainable development ahead of schedule targeted alleviation underscores china's strategy for poverty eradication in the new era in those areas of china that were once stricken with poverty people have been convinced that the targeted poverty alleviation strategy has been effective and beneficial due to widespread poverty hundreds of millions of people worldwide are suffering from hunger illness and distress this is now the biggest challenge in respecting and safeguarding human rights [Music] the miracle achieved by china in fighting poverty is based on the economic reality of a developing country the strength of its political system and its people-centered development philosophy [Music] on september the 3rd 2018 un secretary-general antonio guterres was invited to attend the focac beijing summit during an interview he pointed out that china had contributed more than any other country to global poverty reduction in the previous decade [Music] over the past 40 years of reform and opening up china has created a miracle in the history of poverty reduction as a result absolute poverty which had plagued the chinese nation for thousands of years has been ended china through its efforts has effectively accelerated the process of poverty reduction for all humankind and has made an outstanding contribution to human development in this way global poverty reduction governance is benefiting from china's experience and [Music] wisdom [Music] now there are no more people in china living below the poverty line china met the un's sustainable development goals on poverty 10 years ahead of schedule however ensuring that not a single county is classified as impoverished doesn't mean that china has completed its anti-poverty work [Music] areas that have escaped poverty should not escape their further responsibilities they should continue to implement the strategy offer assistance and provide supervision while tackling any remaining problems to achieve prosperity is a common aspiration shared by humankind the chinese nation has never been as close to achieving this dream as it is today [Music]

Channel: CGTN

Views: 88,533

Rating: 4.8085971 out of 5

Keywords: CGTN, News, Poverty, ZeroPoverty, PovertyAlleviation

Id: wy9MqXSyykU

Length: 50min 6sec (3006 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 24 2021