By 2020, China had eradicated extreme poverty. Over the past four decades, the country lifted around 800 million people out of extreme poverty, accounting for roughly 75% of global poverty reduction. The speed and scale of this achievement are unmatched. Charities operating in China played a crucial role in the elimination of extreme poverty and continue to contribute as the country advances towards its goal of common prosperity. 

Poverty Persists

However, poverty in China has not disappeared entirely. While China has eliminated extreme poverty under the national standard of $2.30 a day, the World Bank, using a higher poverty benchmark of $8.30 a day, shows that around 15% of the population still lives in poverty, which is nearly 300 million people. Using a higher poverty standard line typical of upper-middle-income countries such as China, set at $6.85 a day, around 17% of the population still lives in poverty, with close to half living in rural areas.

Following the elimination of extreme poverty, China has shifted its focus toward the goal of common prosperity with charities operating in China playing a key role in supporting vulnerable communities and reducing inequality.

China Charity Federation 

Founded in 1994, the China Charity Federation is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to poverty alleviation and helping disadvantaged and vulnerable groups across Chinese society.

The Federation assists people living in poverty or facing other difficulties through a wide range of initiatives, including emergency relief, elderly and orphan assistance, as well as medical and educational aid. Over the years, it has raised more than 160 billion yuan ($ 22.4 billion) in charitable funds, benefiting tens of millions of people.

The Happy Home Village and Community Mutual Aid Project provides rural villages with a digital platform to raise and manage funds for projects supporting poverty alleviation, rural revitalization and community development. Beyond fundraising, the project also provides volunteers to support children, the elderly, the poor and other groups requiring assistance.

Red Cross Society of China

The Red Cross Society of China is part of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the world’s largest humanitarian network. It aims to protect human life and health, safeguard human dignity and promote peace and progress. The society provides emergency relief and humanitarian assistance in emergencies, such as war or natural disasters.

Following the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake, the organization raised funds, collected supplies and distributed aid, clothing and emergency items. It also supported the reconstruction of homes for vulnerable families, providing training and financial assistance to help them rebuild earthquake-resistant houses. In addition, it implemented programs to help families generate income and recover economically, while building disaster preparedness systems to strengthen communities’ capacity to respond to future emergencies.

China Foundation for Rural Development

The China Foundation for Rural Development focuses on tackling the root causes of rural poverty. One major challenge it addresses is child malnutrition in rural areas, where many students lack access to balanced meals or to meals at all. The problem is that many schools do not have the necessary equipment to prepare nutritious meals, and many communities are unaware of the importance of proper nutrition. 

Its Nutritious Meals Program aims to improve rural children’s nutrition by providing a daily serving of milk and eggs to students, equipping schools with kitchen facilities and equipment and offering nutrition training and education for parents and teachers. Since 2008, the program has delivered around 57 million nutritious meals to more than 1 million children and established approximately 2,000 “Love Kitchens.”

The Amity Foundation

The Amity Foundation is an independent Chinese organization committed to public health, social welfare and community development. One of its programs focuses on the education of young people in rural areas, aiming to provide students in underdeveloped regions with access to equal educational opportunities. This initiative seeks to provide educational equity by improving access to quality education and creating supportive learning environments. Schools benefit from upgraded infrastructure, along with sports and learning equipment, to support both academic and physical development. The program places particular emphasis on supporting orphans and girls, for example, by offering financial aid to female college students. It helps students return to school and supports university students in completing their studies. Amity’s work contributes to multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by fostering inclusive, continuous and holistic education for disadvantaged children in China.

One Foundation 

Founded in 2007, One Foundation is dedicated to public welfare for all, focusing on three main areas: disaster relief, childcare and development and public welfare support and innovation.

Its Water Purification Plan aims to improve drinking water conditions in rural school campuses by providing water, purification equipment, drinking cups and water and health education to students and staff.

Coca-Cola partnered with the initiative by creating a bottled water brand that supports providing clean drinking water to rural schoolchildren. Under the slogan:  “Drink Good, Do Good,” their sales supported One Foundation’s efforts to build water facilities and improve access to safe water in rural areas.

The Path to Common Prosperity

Charities operating in China play a vital role in supporting vulnerable communities, providing education, healthcare, nutrition, disaster relief and other essential services. Their work helps reduce inequality and lays the groundwork for the country’s broader goal of common prosperity.

China has made common prosperity, a society in which wealth and opportunity are widely shared, a central policy objective. The country aims to make significant progress by 2035 and fully realize this vision by 2050. Xi Jinping has described common prosperity as transforming China’s current income distribution, which he compares to a pyramid, with many poor people at the bottom and a few very rich, into the shape of an olive with very few people at either extreme and a more balanced distribution of wealth. Key strategies include implementing rural revitalization and urbanization initiatives, ensuring equal access to basic services such as health care and education, revitalizing underdeveloped regions and supporting low-income individuals facing special difficulties. Common prosperity aims to reduce the wealth gap between China’s rich and poor.

– Jeanne Pellet

Jeanne is based in London, UK and focuses on Technology and Solutions for The Borgen Project.

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