Xi hails miraculous achievement of poverty reduction, inspiring nation for higher goals with spirit

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, inspects poverty alleviation work in a tea farm of Laoxian township, Pingli county of Ankang, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, on April 21, 2020. Photo: Xinhua

Chinese President Xi Jinping solemnly declared "complete victory" on eradicating extreme poverty in China at a national commendation conference on Thursday - four months before the centennial of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC) - marking another great miracle the Party leading the world's most populous nation has accomplished.  

The convening of the commendation conference to honor the country's outstanding poverty alleviation fighters at this time showed China's development is entering a new phase with a more ambitious goal expected in the second hundred years under the leadership of the CPC, and the declaration of the victory can also boost confidence in the world which is on the hard battle with the COVID-19 pandemic, poverty and food scarcity, experts told the Global Times on Thursday.

China is expected to declare a moderately prosperous society in all respects in the middle of the year, which means that the country has achieved its first centennial goal on schedule in 2021. In 2049, China will achieve its second centennial goal of building "a modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced and harmonious."

Xi, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, hailed on Thursday that the achievement of eradicating extreme poverty is a miracle that shall "go down in history." He said the battle is won through joint efforts of all ethnic groups. 

Photo: Xinhua

China has met the poverty eradication target set in the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 10 years ahead of schedule. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC held in 2012, 10 million people have been lifted out of extreme poverty each year on average in China - equal to the population of a medium-sized country. 

Dr. Robert Lawrence Kuhn, chairman of The Kuhn Foundation and recipient of the China Reform Friendship Medal (2018), told the Global Times on Thursday that China's success in eradicating extreme poverty is founded on three powerful principles: CPC leadership, General Secretary Xi's commitment, and CPC mobilization.

Experts noted that the victory in the poverty battle laid a solid foundation for China to achieve its second centennial goal. On Thursday afternoon, China launched the National Administration of Rural Revitalization, marking China's overall victory in the battle against poverty and a starting point of fulfilling rural revitalization and a brand new life.

Spirit of poverty alleviation

A grand gathering is held to mark the country's accomplishments in poverty alleviation and honor its model poverty fighters at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, on Thursday. Photo: Xinhua

China has cultivated a spirit of poverty alleviation from the battle against poverty, Xi said on Thursday, which comprises the CPC's goals and spirit of the Chinese nation, and reflects patriotism, socialist ideas and Chinese values.

Several experts noted that the spirit showed the enormous power that the Party leading the Chinese people can unleash in building a better future. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the Party has made eradicating poverty its goal to better serve the people and lead them to a prosperous future. 

We need the commendation conference to draw experience from the past and also to encourage the people to carry on the spirit to build our country, experts said.

Zhang Xixian, a professor at the Party School of the Central Committee of the CPC, told the Global Times that the spirit of poverty alleviation is the result of the efforts of two generations of people led by the CPC since the 1980s, especially over the past eight years.

The mention of the spirit of poverty alleviation today by President Xi at the commendation conference makes it a national level spirit, just like the Jinggangshan spirit and Yan'an spirit during revolutionary times, Zhang said, adding that "those spirits together form CPC's spiritual pedigree, becoming prominent features of the CPC and part of China's soft power."

"It invigorates the CPC, and is critically important for the Chinese people at a time when the Party will mark the 100th anniversary of its founding in just four months," Zhang said.

The spirit will become an essential part of civilized achievement for the CPC and lay the foundation for the Party to fulfill its next centennial goal, he noted.

At every important stage in its development, China has cultivated a different spirit, such as the Jinggangshan spirit and the Yan'an spirit during the revolutionary period, Yu Shaoxiang, chief research fellow with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Thursday.

China's achievement in poverty alleviation shows the advantage of the country's "whole nation system" - China can concentrate its efforts and resources to do major things and realize development, Yu said. 

"The newly announced spirit of poverty alleviation is a summary of experiences from China's poverty reduction work over the past decades," Yu said. "The practice has come into theory, which can be promoted to help other developing countries in the world," he said, noting eliminating extreme poverty shows that China's development has entered a new era.