Skip links

Skip to Content
play

Live

Navigation menu

  • News
    • Middle East
    • Africa
    • Asia
    • US & Canada
    • Latin America
    • Europe
    • Asia Pacific
  • Ukraine war
  • Features
  • Economy
  • Opinion
  • Video
    • Coronavirus
    • Climate Crisis
    • Investigations
    • Interactives
    • In Pictures
    • Science & Technology
    • Sports
    • Podcasts
play

Live

In Pictures

Gallery|Poverty and Development

In Pictures: China’s poverty alleviation

People who were relocated from remote during a government-organised media tour at Chengbei Gang'en community, in Yuexi County, China's Sichuan Province. [Roman Pilipey/EPA]
Published On 23 Sep 202023 Sep 2020
facebooktwitterwhatsapp

Over the past 40 years, China says it has lifted more than 800 million people out of poverty, a phenomenon that has been described as “unmatched in human history”.

During that time, boosted by reforms and the economic opening launched by former leader Deng Xiaoping after the death of Mao Zedong in 1976, China’s contribution to the world economy increased from 1.5 percent to 15.4 percent, while its gross domestic product (GDP) per capita has multiplied by a factor of almost 65.

Over the past five years, 70 million people have been the beneficiaries of poverty alleviation schemes, according to official figures.

This year, China is looking to do the same for a further 30 million people.

Its poor, rural population is largely located in the southwest, with Sichuan province being one of the country’s most poverty-stricken regions. Out of the approximately 200,000 people living below the poverty line in Sichuan, almost 90 percent live in Liangshan prefecture, which is home to the largest ethnic Yi population in the country.

According to official figures, there were six million people living in poverty in Sichuan seven years ago. Under the poverty alleviation programme, villagers in remote areas are relocated to towns that have been built by the state and are equipped with water and electricity, healthcare facilities and schools while providing the possibility of finding employment and leaving behind the hardship of rural life.

But for many of the relocated families, the sudden transition to an urban lifestyle after generations of working and living off the land has been difficult.

The open air of the fields has been replaced by small, often overcrowded urban dwellings, most of which have portraits of President Xi Jinping on their walls. The relocated rural population told EPA photo agency that they did not hang the pictures up themselves.

They are also concerned that their language and culture could be under threat, as the local schools only teach in Mandarin.

China poverty
People attend farmers' night school gathering in Xiaoshan village. Local officials say none of these people was relocated by force. [Roman Pilipey/EPA]
Advertisement
china poverty
People work at a vegetable plantation during a government-organised media tour in Qingshui village, Ganluo County, China's Sichuan province. According to official figures, there were six million people living in poverty in Sichuan seven years ago. [Roman Pilipey/EPA]
china poverty
Dwelling houses in Xichang, China's Sichuan province. Villagers in remote areas are relocated to towns that have been built by the state. [Roman Pilipey/EPA]
china poverty
Children of relocated families attend a kindergarten class in Chengbei Gang'en community, in Yuexi county. People are concerned that their language and culture could be under threat as the local schools teach in Mandarin only. [Roman Pilipey/EPA]
china poverty
Houses surrounded by the mountains in the area between Yuexi and Xide counties, in Sichuan province. [Roman Pilipey/EPA]
china poverty
People work at a vegetable plantation in Qingshui village, Ganluo County. [Roman Pilipey/EPA]
Advertisement
china poverty
A woman carries cabbages at a vegetable plantation in Qingshui village. [Roman Pilipey/EPA]
china poverty
Women from Yi ethnic minority work at an apple plantation in Yuexi County. [Roman Pilipey/EPA]
china poverty
A woman walks out of her house in Da'ganyi village where people were relocated from remote areas. [Roman Pilipey/EPA]
china poverty
Yi ethnic minority people who were relocated from remote sit in their new house next to a portrait of Chinese President Xi Jinping. People said they did not hang the pictures up themselves. [Roman Pilipey/EPA]
china poverty
An Yi ethnic minority woman who was relocated from remote areas in Xujiashan village. For many of the relocated families, the sudden transition to an urban lifestyle has been difficult. [Roman Pilipey/EPA]


    • About Us
    • Code of Ethics
    • Terms and Conditions
    • EU/EEA Regulatory Notice
    • Privacy Policy
    • Cookie Policy
    • Cookie Preferences
    • Sitemap
    • Community Guidelines
    • Work for us
    • HR Quality
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise with us
    • Apps
    • Channel Finder
    • TV Schedule
    • Podcasts
    • Submit a Tip
    • Al Jazeera Arabic
    • Al Jazeera English
    • Al Jazeera Investigative Unit
    • Al Jazeera Mubasher
    • Al Jazeera Documentary
    • Al Jazeera Balkans
    • AJ+
    • Al Jazeera Centre for Studies
    • Al Jazeera Media Institute
    • Learn Arabic
    • Al Jazeera Centre for Public Liberties & Human Rights
    • Al Jazeera Forum
    • Al Jazeera Hotel Partners

Follow Al Jazeera English:

  • facebook
  • twitter
  • youtube
  • instagram-colored-outline
  • rss
Al Jazeera Media Network logo
© 2022 Al Jazeera Media Network