(Countering New Crown Pneumonia) China's Economic War Epidemic Record: Major Epidemic Challenges Will Not Change China's "Fundamentals" of Poverty Alleviation
China News Agency, Beijing, February 25th, title: Major epidemic challenges do not change China's "fundamentals" to fight poverty
China News Agency reporter Ruan Yulin
"A sudden outbreak is a major challenge in the years of poverty alleviation, but it will not change the fundamentals of China's poverty alleviation." Li Xiaoyun, a professor at China Agricultural University and a member of the Expert Advisory Committee of the Leading Group for Poverty Alleviation and Development of the State Council, recently accepted an interview with China News Agency Shi said that China has done a lot of work in poverty alleviation and targeted poverty alleviation. The task of completing poverty alleviation in 2020 is a product of historical accumulation.
The outbreak: a major challenge in the year of poverty
Li Xiaoyun said that 2020 will be the end of China's fight against poverty, and China's rural population will historically escape from absolute poverty. The new crown pneumonia epidemic is a major public health emergency that has spread the fastest, has the widest range of infections, and is the most difficult to prevent and control in China since the founding of the People's Republic of China. Degree of influence.
Li Xiaoyun said that the impact of the sudden epidemic on farmers' income in poverty-stricken areas is obvious, especially for poor families whose main income is working income. The impact on farm-based households, such as pigs, chickens, and rural tourism, is also obvious. Especially the business activities concentrated during the Spring Festival will have a greater impact, which will bring challenges to poverty alleviation this year. It will take some time for the affected areas to recover, and the epidemic has increased the risk of returning to poverty.
Zhang Qi, president of the China Poverty Alleviation Research Institute of Beijing Normal University, said in an interview with China News Agency on the 24th that this year is the final year to build a well-off society in an all-round way and win the battle against poverty. The tackling task has a greater impact. It is necessary to win both the epidemic prevention and control sniper war and the fight against poverty. This year, we are facing a dual task.
"The impact of this epidemic on employment is considerable, not only in a wide range but for a long time. In recent years, part-time income has accounted for a large proportion of the income of poor peasant families, and many households account for 50% to 60%." Zhang Qi said that the epidemic will directly affect the operating income and income of local migrant workers of poor families, making it difficult for “two worry-free” (do n’t worry about eating and worrying about wearing) problems that have rarely existed. The family reappeared.
Response: Solve the increase in farmers' income and resume work as soon as possible
"Responding to an outbreak is a global issue, not just a problem of poverty alleviation. From the perspective of increasing farmers' income in poor areas, it is necessary to resume work and production as soon as possible," said Li Xiaoyun.
How to deal with the impact of the epidemic on poverty alleviation, Zhang Qi believes that the first is to resolve employment, first of all, export of labor services, and through the cooperation of the east and west, the workers in the central and western regions can return to work as soon as possible. Currently, Zhejiang, Guangdong and other places have resumed work. Secondly, poverty alleviation workshops and local leading enterprises are important measures to absorb local employment, and public welfare posts can also be developed to properly resettle poor laborers temporarily unable to go out to work due to the epidemic. Especially in Hubei, which was severely affected by the epidemic, it is difficult for people to go out to work, and it is more realistic to settle employment on the spot. The second is to do a good job of selling agricultural products through industrial poverty alleviation. Promote poverty alleviation through consumption, and solve the problem of docking production and marketing and “difficult selling” of agricultural products through east-west cooperation, fixed-point assistance, and cadre assistance.
Li Xiaoyun believes that local employment is achieved through poverty alleviation workshops and public welfare posts, and employment positions are tilted toward particularly poor people. At the same time, affected by the epidemic, the demand for agricultural products such as meat, eggs and vegetables has declined, and agricultural products cannot be sold. It is recommended that e-commerce providers such as Jingdong, Pinduoduo, and Taobao be launched as soon as possible to solve the problem of agricultural product demand, but the logistics and transportation problems must be solved first.
Preventing return to poverty: focus on marginalized groups
Official data show that according to the current national rural poverty standards, by the end of 2019, China's rural poor population was 5.51 million, a decrease of 11.09 million from the end of the previous year, and the incidence of poverty was 0.6%.
Wang Sangui, president of the China Institute of Poverty Alleviation, Renmin University of China, said in an interview with a reporter from China News Agency that the impact of the sudden new crown pneumonia epidemic on poverty alleviation efforts is mainly manifested in two aspects. One is that it has affected 5.51 million rural areas in China. The population that has been lifted out of poverty; the second is that it has a greater impact on low-income groups that have been lifted out of poverty, including those whose income has been well above the poverty line. If the duration of the epidemic is not particularly long, these groups will not fall below the poverty line For some people who have just crossed the poverty line, the affected income will drop slightly, and they may fall below the poverty line. These people need to focus on.
Wang Sangui said that for the poor households that rely mainly on wage income, whether or not they are out of poverty, priority should be given to employment to stabilize their economic income. Relying on rural tourism and poverty alleviation workshops, priority will be given to restoring production and giving priority to the employment of poor households. At the same time, more public welfare posts will be created, employment opportunities will be increased, and the source of income for low-income groups will be protected; marginal households will be valued, and solutions will be provided through transfer payments. It is necessary to organize the docking of production and marketing and solve the problem of “difficult selling” of agricultural and livestock products in poor areas as soon as possible.
Wang Sangui said that it is necessary to speed up the establishment and improvement of the mechanism to prevent poverty return, and to help those who return to poverty due to the epidemic or other reasons in a timely manner to ensure that their basic lives are not affected. (Finish)