The message we get from the idea of raising the country's poverty line from the current 637 yuan ($91) to 1,300 yuan ($186) is that the policymakers' understanding of poverty is undergoing a change, and so is the concept of poverty alleviation.
The population under the poverty line will double from the current 40 million to 80 million if the benchmark is raised to the annual income of 1,300 yuan. But the definition of poverty alleviation has been extended from enabling the people to have enough to eat and wear to taking into consideration their expenses for education and healthcare.
It goes without saying that the idea, a draft for which is being prepared by the State Council office of poverty alleviation, is a manifestation of the people-first governing concept that the new leadership is advocating.
The elevation of the poverty line from below the annual income of 200 yuan in 1985 to the current 673 yuan and to the would-be 1,300 yuan in the near future has demonstrated the continuity of the State policy to gradually provide more residents with the access to the fruit of economic reform and opening up.
At the very beginning of the economic reform and opening up in the late 1970s, our policy was to let some people get rich first as it was impossible for everybody to become wealthy at the same time. Undoubtedly we have realized that goal with more and more millionaires and even billionaires. Yet, we still have another promise - prosperity for all.
The proposed elevation of the poverty line sends the message that our policymakers have not forgotten about this promise.
The change is proposed at a time when the prices of daily necessities including food have been rising at a very high rate in the past year and half. It is indeed timely as the poorer people have certainly felt the pinch of price hikes much harder than their better-off counterparts.
It is absolutely right for the policymakers to pay enough attention to the impact that the rising prices have on the life of the most vulnerable.
To our comfort, not only the deficit from rising prices but also their basic needs for education and healthcare have also been taken into consideration in elevating the poverty line. This change in the definition of poverty alleviation is worth our applause.
(China Daily April 15, 2008)