Poverty Alleviation and Development in Sichuan Province

　　【Overview】In 2011, Sichuan Province thoroughly implemented the scientific outlook on development, adhered to the development-oriented poverty reduction, earnestly studied the spirit of the central poverty alleviation work conference and the “Outline for Development-oriented Poverty Reduction for China’s Rural Areas (2011-2020)” and, according to the province’s 12th Five-Year Plan and the guideline of “boosting development with a high standard” of Sichuan Provincial Party Committee, with the theme of “implementing the ‘12th Five-Year Plan’ for scientific development”, based on the basic guiding ideology and objectives set at the beginning of the year, it highlighted the key points of “development, livelihood, stability and harmony”, vigorously speeded up the transformation of poverty alleviation patterns, put much effort on making overall planning for the scientific development of anti-poverty work and strived to make a breakthrough in the work, laying a good basis for the implementation of the 12th Five-Year Plan and the poverty alleviation and development in Sichuan Province in the next decade.

　　【Implementation of the spirit of the central work conference on poverty alleviation】 After the central work conference on poverty alleviation was convened, Sichuan Province earnestly studied and implemented the spirit of the meeting, strived to have a profound understanding of the judgment, analysis, decisions and deployments made by central government on the poverty alleviation and development work, understand the situation, tasks, characteristics and opportunities of poverty alleviation and development in Sichuan Province, highlighted the key problem tackling for poverty reduction in the new stage, innovated the ideas and measures and vigorously promoted the poverty reduction to ensure the successful completion of the objectives and tasks.

　　First, study and publicize the spirit of the central work conference on poverty alleviation. It quickly conveyed and reported the spirit of the central work conference on poverty alleviation to the 124th Provincial Party Standing Committee and held a plenary meeting of the Provincial Poverty Alleviation and Development Leading Group to study the meeting spirit and make deployment for relevant work. The Provincial Poverty Alleviation and Development Leading Group issued the "Notice on Earnestly Study the Spirit of the Central Work Conference on Poverty Alleviation” (Chuan Kai Fa [2011] No. 4) and various regions and departments all seriously implemented it. Sichuan Daily, Sichuan Radio and Television and other major news media in the province opened up special columns or programs on important forum and sessions to comprehensively publicize the notice, encourage people with anti-poverty achievements, inspire people with the spirit of the meeting and condense the masses with a bright future, creating a good atmosphere for mobilizing the cadres and the masses to implement the deployments of the central government and do a good job in a new round of poverty alleviation and development.

　　Secondly, adjust relevant pro-poor policies of the province. Under the principle of “little adjustment for a stable situation”, Sichuan put forward the adjustment plan with city (prefecture) as the unit, adjusted two key counties: Yajiang County and Xinlong County of Ganzi Prefecture were no longer key counties. Instead, Ganzi County and Dege County were identified as key counties. The Provincial Party Standing Committee clearly announced that Sichuan’s poverty line is the same as the national poverty line of 2,300 Yuan (2010 constant prices), approved the poor population of 13.56 million in rural areas of Sichuan in the new era, designated 26 counties (cities, districts) in the Wumeng Mountain and Qinba Mountain areas of Sichuan to be covered by the planning for contiguous development, and clarified that 86 counties (cities, districts) were the main battlefield of the anti-poverty work in Sichuan Province in the new era. The province formulated the “Outline for Poverty Alleviation and Development in Rural Areas of Sichuan (2011-2020)” (Chuan Wei Fa [2011] No. 21) and introduced the “Plan for Division of Labor for the Implementation of Important Policy Measures of the ‘Outline for Poverty Alleviation and Development in Rural Areas of Sichuan (2011-2020)’” (Chuan Wei Ting [2011] No.53), etc.

　　Thirdly, develop special poverty alleviation and development planning. After the central work conference on poverty alleviation and development, in accordance with the requirements of the deployment meeting on the regional development and poverty alleviation planning preparation for contiguous poor areas in China, Sichuan Province developed the provincial planning for the regional development and poverty alleviation in Qinba Mountain and Wumeng Mountain areas, and timely reported to LGOP and the National Development and Reform Commission for the preparation of national planning for contiguous development. It completed the preparation of Sichuan Province’s "12th Five-Year" Plan for the entire village advancement, the construction of old revolutionary base areas, the poverty reduction in Qinba Mountain areas (the areas in Sichuan) and the poverty alleviation and development in contiguous poor areas, initially forming the poverty alleviation and development system of “one overall planning supported by a number of special plans”.

　　Fourthly, make deployments for the poverty alleviation and development work at the new stage. The province held the provincial party committee’s meeting on poverty alleviation and development to sum up the poverty alleviation work in the past decade and make deployments for the anti-poverty work in the new era. To achieve the objectives of “no worries about food and clothing, three guarantees, one above average and one approach”, it put forward the basic guiding ideology and key work for the poverty alleviation and development in the new stage; adhered to unchanged pro-poor policies, fund projects, poverty alleviation planning, industrial poverty alleviation and fixed-point poverty alleviation to accelerate the poverty reduction in key counties; and put forward the measures of “five linkages” – link anti-poverty work with the income growth of farmers, economic development, excelling in performance, efficiency assessment and the use of cadres to promote the implementation of anti-poverty work.

　　Fifthly, study and formulate fixed-point poverty alleviation program. The province conscientiously implemented the spirit of the central poverty alleviation work conference and studied and formulated the fixed-point poverty alleviation program for the new stage. The General Office of Sichuan Provincial Party Committee and Sichuan Provincial People's Government issued the "Notice on Promoting the Fixed-point Poverty Alleviation". Combined with the activities of “leader responsibility, village poverty reduction by departments and household poverty reduction by cadres” and the plan for “counterpart support for Tibet”, in the new round of fixed-point poverty alleviation, Sichuan Province arranged 239 departments (units) to support 87 counties, covering all the key counties, contiguous poor areas and provincial poor counties. It strengthened the communications with Zhejiang Province and did a good job of expanding the Zhejiang-Sichuan poverty alleviation cooperation to the Tibetan areas of Sichuan Province.

　　Sixthly, study and formulate the work plan to ensure the completion of the anti-poverty tasks for the new stage. Based on the characteristics of a large size, wide spreading, deep poverty, basic balance and small concentration of the poor in the province, it formulated the “Work Plan to Ensure the Completion of the Anti-poverty Tasks for the New Stage”. To achieve the goal of “two no-worries and three guarantees”, the province clarified three tasks: By 2015, provide adequate food and clothing for the poor and reduce the poor by 65%; by 2019, lift all the key counties out of poverty; by 2020, lift 13.56 people out of poverty. Meanwhile, it included poverty alleviation and development work into the target assessment of city (prefecture) and county (city, district) government and the performance evaluation of the provincial departments. The Provincial Leading Group of Poverty Alleviation and Development conducted special assessment to promote the implementation of the work and ensure the fulfillment of the objectives and tasks.

　　【Investment of anti-poverty funds】In 2011, a total of 2.531 billion Yuan of central and provincial anti-poverty funds was invested to support 453,000 poor residents (poverty line: 1274 Yuan) to improve the production and living conditions and increase income, completing 130% of the scheduled task. The province launched 498 poverty relief projects of new village building, accounting for 166% of the scheduled task; the industrial poverty alleviation covered 126,000 poverty-stricken rural households, accounting for 126% of the scheduled task; and 68,000 labors were transferred through receiving trainings, accounting for 113% of the scheduled task.

　　【Key problem tackling for poverty reduction】In 2011, highlighting the main battlefield for poverty alleviation and development, Sichuan Province quickly started the key problem tackling for poverty alleviation and development in four contiguous poor areas with particular difficulties, namely the Wumeng Mountain area, Qinba Mountain area, Liangshan Mountain area and the Tibetan areas in the west part of Sichuan. In August, Sichuan Provincial People's Government issued the implemented the "Outline for Poverty Alleviation and Development in Qinba Mountain Areas (the Areas in Sichuan) (2011-2015)” (Chuan Fu Fa [2011] No. 27), constructed 40 anti-poverty projects in 32 counties of Qinba Mountain area and 8 counties in Wumeng Mountain area and implemented the key problem tacking for poverty reduction in old revolutionary base areas. The 32 counties of Tibetan areas vigorously conducted the comprehensive poverty reduction, launched six poverty alleviation projects including new village building, industrial development and labor services, etc; more than 4.8 billion Yuan was invested in the poverty alleviation and development in Liangshan Mountain area, 404 Yi Villages were set up and 30800 households’ houses were rebuilt. In early August, Sichuan Provincial Party Committee and Sichuan Provincial People's Government held in Liangshan Prefecture the site meeting on the construction of Yi Villages and summed up the experience to promote the implementation of anti-poverty work.

 

　　【Pilot poverty alleviation projects】In 2011, the province implemented 75 projects of “county-based entire village advancement and contiguous development by integration resources”, involving 19 cities (prefectures) and 64 counties (cities, districts). The total number of contiguous poor areas in Sichuan Province reached 127. In mid-November, Sichuan Provincial People's Government held in Guang'an City the provincial meeting on the poverty alleviation and development of contiguous poor areas with particular difficulties in the province, summed up the experience of contiguous development and poverty alleviation and made deployments on the contiguous development. The province invested 570 million Yuan to continue to carry out the pilot projects of poverty alleviation and Kashin-Beck disease control in Aba Prefecture and complete the mid-term evaluation of the pilot work. The pilot work of post-Wenchuan Earthquake restoration and reconstruction of 1224 poor villages was completed by the end of September; the pilot projects of mutual funds for poor villages were smoothly implemented, involving 1640 villages of 129 counties in Sichuan. The total amount of the mutual funds reached 316.2766 million Yuan and a total of 269700 rural households joined in the mutual aid society. In cooperation with the Foreign Capital Project Management Center of LGOP, we selected the pilot villages of Wangcang County with standardized operations to cooperate with China Life Insurance Company Limited for the implementation of the first batch of pilot projects of petty insurance for poverty reduction in the country. Meanwhile, the province achieved tangible results in the effective convergence of poverty alleviation and the rural minimum living security system and the pilot projects of lottery welfare funds.

　　【Social poverty alleviation】In 2011, 205 central and provincial organs dispatched 1878 people to conduct field research for fixed-point poverty alleviation and sent 118 cadres to the poor areas; directly invested more than 500 million Yuan and invited investment of 760 million Yuan and 473 projects; held trainings for 32,000 person-times and transferred labors for 14,000 person-times. Zhejiang Province provided aid funds of 36.18 million Yuan for 12 counties of Nanchong and Guangyuan County, relevant enterprises invested 3.842 billion Yuan, provided jobs for 9,864 people and created tax revenue of 136 million Yuan. The coverage of poverty alleviation cooperation was expanded to 32 counties of the Tibetan areas of Sichuan. Zhuhai City invested more than 8 million Yuan of counterpart support for Liangshan Prefecture. The "Project Pillars" subsidized a total of 14,823 poor students in the year and the activities of “leader responsibility, village poverty reduction by departments and household poverty reduction by cadres”, “care packages” and “village-enterprise cooperation in poverty reduction” were further promoted. Meanwhile, the province carried out the first pilot project of “Protecting the Long March Ruins of Red Army and Promoting the Tourism Development in Ganzi – LGOP, Sichuan Provincial People’s Government and the Export-Import Bank of China” and actively promoted the action plan and technology poverty alleviation of the poverty alleviation volunteers in China.

　　【International exchange】Sichuan Province strengthened international cooperation in poverty alleviation and development to enhance the effectiveness of poverty alleviation. The Fourth Loan Project of the World Bank invested a total of 400 million Yuan for the poverty-relief project construction in 519 villages of 86 towns of six key counties and steady progress was made in the CDD and pilot project of post-disaster development of women and children in disaster areas. The province strengthened the exchange of experience in international poverty reduction, accelerated the construction of the International Poverty Reduction Center bases, and actively carried out training activities. In 2011, it received Mexico’s delegation and other international delegations and introduced to international friends the basic course, great achievements and basic experience of Sichuan Province’s poverty alleviation and development as well as the poverty alleviation situation at the new stage. In July and November, it held in Chengdu two seminars on the Theory and Practice for Development (Poverty Reduction) of Asian Counties participated by more than 60 senior officials from 55 counties, exchanged experience and conducted in-depth studies with the participants, and offered warm, thoughtful, careful and quality services for the participants, praised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, LGOP and the officials of the participating countries.

　　【Management of anti-poverty funds】It strengthened the management of poverty alleviation project funds and, through news media such as Sichuan Daily, announced the use of 2011 poverty-relief project funds to receive public supervision for sunshine operation. In late November, the Poverty Alleviation and Resettlement Bureau of Sichuan Province, the Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security and the Provincial Disabled Persons' Federation provided services on the hotline of “Sunshine Government Affairs” of Sichuan Radio and Television News Channel for one week and listened to the voices of the public, enhancing the transparency of anti-poverty work and promoting the sunshine operation of the poverty alleviation and development. Meanwhile, the province established the joint meeting system to strengthen the supervision on the use of funds for poverty-relief and relocation projects. Under the leadership of the Poverty Alleviation and Resettlement Bureau of Sichuan Province, ten departments (units) directly under the provincial government, including the Provincial Department of Supervision, the Provincial Department of Finance and the Provincial Council Office for Rectifying, etc, made joint efforts to strengthen the supervision of anti-poverty funds and jointly issued the "Opinions on Further Strengthening the Supervision of Poverty Alleviation Fund Projects”. From late October to Mid-November, the government organized the inspection on the use of anti-poverty and relocation funds in the province, aiming to raise awareness, arouse attention, find out problems, promote the rectification and improve relevant measures. It actively promoted the process of legalization and standardization of the poverty alleviation and development work. The “Rural Poverty Alleviation and Development Ordinance of Sichuan Province” was listed among the research and demonstration projects of the Sichuan Provincial People's Government.

　　【poverty alleviation research and advocacy】It strengthened poverty alleviation and development advocacy to create a good atmosphere for the anti-poverty work. On the very day when the central work conference on poverty alleviation and development was convened, CCTV “Network News” reported the renovation of three kinds of houses and the construction of new Yi villages in Liangshan Prefecture, the “Focus Report” reported the poverty-relief relocation of Derong County of Ganzi Prefecture, Sichuan Daily successively printed the “Let the Masses Share the Fruits of Reform - Poverty Alleviation and Development Documentary of Sichuan Province”, “Development-oriented Poverty Alleviation Enriched the Masses of Old Revolutionary Base Areas” and the “Love for the Masses of Old Revolutionary Base Areas – Construction of Northeast Old Revolutionary Base Areas in Sichuan and the Improvement of People’s Livelihood”, etc. In cooperation with Sichuan TV, we developed five special programs including “New Look of Poverty-stricken Villages” and “Great Achievements in Contiguous Development”, etc. At the same time, the province issued the magazine of “Poverty Alleviation and Immigration of Sichuan”, held the exhibition on the poverty alleviation achievements of Sichuan Province in the past decade, developed the propaganda program on the anti-poverty achievements of the province; strengthened the field research on poverty alleviation and development in the new stage, completed the “Study on the Pro-poor Policies for the 12th Five-Year Plan Period” and “Study of Income Growth of Farmers in Contiguous Areas”, etc. In addition, we successfully completed the preparation of the “Records of Wenchuan Earthquake Relief and Post-disaster Reconstruction” and the “Major Events of Sichuan and Major Events of Poverty Alleviation and Development”.

　　【Development of poverty alleviation and development institutions and cadres】At the end of August 2011, the Poverty Alleviation and Resettlement Bureau of Sichuan Province completed its institutional reform and internal post integration and unified office was provided for the authorities. The Poverty Alleviation and Resettlement Bureau of Sichuan Province reinforced the leadership positions (one heads and five deputy heads), promoted nine bureau-level cadres, five division-level cadres and six deputy section level cadres, carried out the exchanges of cadres, covering 56 cadres of division or lower levels, accounting for 81% of the total, achieving the integration of poverty relief and immigration cadres. At the same time, the province made steady progress in organ party building, strengthened the theoretical study of party groups, steadily promoted the activity of "Celebration of the 90th Anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party" and the activity of excelling in performance, strengthened the construction of an honest and clean party, earnestly studied the spirit of the plenary session of the Central Discipline Inspection Commission, strengthened the construction of the leadership team, intensified the inspection and supervision and promoted the self-discipline. The Poverty Alleviation and Resettlement Bureau of Sichuan Province amended and improved more than 20 internal management systems of the authorities such as the administration effectiveness, the “first-person responsibility system”, the system for settlement within limited time and the system of accountability to further standardize the order of the work of authorities; strengthened the management of government affairs, conferences and related office work to further improve the efficiency of the organs, and integrated the poverty alleviation and resettlement organs of the 116 counties (cities, districts) in 16 cities (prefectures) of the province, further strengthening the poverty alleviation and development work force.