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Rural Land Engineering in China 

Rural Land EngineeringChina’s poverty reduction success is exemplary. According to the World Bank, in 2000, China had a poverty rate of 49.8%, which decreased to 0.6% in 2019. But rapid urbanization has led to both land degradation and higher rates of rural poverty. Because sustainable land use is an important part of economic growth, China is attempting to mitigate this rural poverty through the use of rural land engineering.

According to 2017 data from UNICEF, about 53.6% of China’s rural poor reside in the country’s western region, equaling 16.34 million people. Guizhou holds the highest number of impoverished people at 2.95 million. Xinjiang, an area with high numbers of ethnic minorities such as the marginalized Uyghur people, has the most significant poverty rate — 9.9%.

Since 2000, China has introduced several social development programs in rural communities, such as “universal compulsory education up to grade 9, rural medical cooperative system, social pension system for rural residents and a minimum living allowance scheme,” the World Bank reports.

What is Rural Land Engineering?

Since land degradation is the most significant problem that some rural communities in China face, people are turning to rural land engineering and other similar practices that revitalize the land. In this context, it is a method of agricultural engineering that is able to prevent land degradation. Some forms of land engineering are land consolidation, reclamation, restoration and reallocation. All of these different types of land engineering help curtail land degradation, and therefore, rural poverty.

The most well-known form of rural land engineering is land consolidation. According to the European Environment Agency, land consolidation involves “joining small plots of land together to form larger farms or large fields.” According to an article in Geographical Research, the main objective of land consolidation is to maximize the amount of arable land and advance the conditions of agricultural production. Land consolidation generally consists of practices that seek to maximize the earning potential of a given area.

Why Rural Land Engineering?

To put it simply, this method of curtailing poverty is useful and easy. It creates a balanced man-land system. Because people and land are the two most important parts of rural communities, it makes sense that a balanced man-land system would be optimal for reducing poverty.

Liu Yansui and Wang Yongsheng conducted a study that discusses rural land engineering and how it helps to alleviate poverty. In the study, the researchers find that hilly areas in parts of rural China can be repurposed into productive farmland. This productive farmland would then create income for rural families. By repurposing this hilly land, rural families in such areas can rise out of poverty.

Another key explanation in the study outlines the link between poverty and land engineering. The researchers found that “land engineering utilizes engineering measures to coordinate human-land relationships by transforming unused land into available land or efficiently using the existing land.”

Geographical Research explains that, through the use of land consolidation, impoverished peasants are able to obtain farmland that is supplied with “improved infrastructure and roads.”

A History of Land Engineering

China began land engineering practices as far back as the time of the Xia dynasty but has now moved onto more modern means of land engineering. China established the Key Laboratory of Degraded and Unused Land Consolidation Engineering in 2013.

In 2016, China developed a new commission of the International Geography Union on Agricultural Geography and Land Engineering (IGU-AGLE) in the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences. IGU-AGLE focuses on “the improvement in agricultural conditions and consolidation of degraded land and defiled land using land engineering.” Also in 2016, universities in China formalized land engineering as a discipline to “cultivate professional talent for national land technology innovation and development.”

Overall, rural land engineering plays a role in poverty reduction in rural China. China stands as an example of national poverty reduction at a large scale and continues to demonstrate a commitment to dissolving poverty among rural populations.

– Timothy Ginter
Photo: Flickr

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China’s Hukou System Restricts Mobility

On the surface, China has been a powerhouse in diminishing global poverty. Measured by individuals living with less than $6.85 a day, China’s poverty rate decreased from 63% in 2010 to 25% in 2019. Based on the country’s official poverty line, the World Bank states that, as of 2020, China’s national poverty rate is 0%. Martin Raiser, the World Bank’s representative in China, claims that China’s work accounts for roughly 70% of the world’s absolute poverty reduction. However, the People’s Republic of China maintains ingrained inequities due to how its hukou system restricts mobility.

What is the Hukou system?

The hukou system is the administrative tool used for population management and registration. The hukou system classifies individuals into urban and rural categories, assigning certain services to each classification, such as access to hospitals and schools. This policy dictates where individuals can live, work and own land in China. This restricts population movement by reserving government services like social security and public education only to citizens with proper hukou for the area in which they live. Changing one’s hukou is often expensive and almost impossible, depending on where the individual wants to live. Due to these policies, the PRC directly shapes available opportunities for urban and rural residents, contributing to stark disparities between its civilians.

China’s hukou system controls internal migration, manages social protection and preserves social stability. By restricting the legal right to live and work in cities without proper hukou, China achieved its goal of limiting the growth of megacities. This process helped mitigate the uncontrolled growth of urban slums, but many rural residents ignored hukou restrictions in search of better economic opportunities in cities.

Hukou Controls Mobility in China

Being born in a rural area causes those Chinese citizens to lose access to the job market in prosperous cities. Thus, they are often confined to living in the same region for most of their lives. Citizens need a temporary residence permit to spend more than three days outside their city or town, preventing free mobility like in other countries such as the U.S.

Some people born with rural hukou endure a complex and costly process to change their status, but many others lack the resources to go through this legal avenue. As a result, many rural residents migrate to cities without the allowed hukou, losing access to beneficial government services and often resorting to poor housing conditions.

Larger cities often limit new hukou to wealthy households, thus, leaving poorer urban residents with worse living conditions. Smaller cities usually accept rural migrants, making it easier for them to receive their desired hukou. While this process deters migrants from moving to larger cities like Shanghai and Beijing, it also puts millions of Chinese migrants in threatening conditions.

Ingrained Inequities in the Hukou System

The hukou system exists in tandem with growing income inequality. China’s Gini coefficient reveals high-income inequality: measuring inequality on a scale from 0 (low) to 1 (high), China’s is approximately 0.47 compared to 0.41 in the U.S.

While moving to urban areas increases access to higher-paying jobs, rural-to-urban migrants face significant penalties if they do not have an urban hukou. These workers lose access to health insurance, retirement allowances, unemployment insurance, maternity benefits, work insurance, employment and education. With more than half of China’s population living in cities, only 35% of urbanites have a city hukou. This disparity means more than 250 million migrant workers do not receive social security benefits.

The hukou system disadvantages rural residents more than city-designated dwellers by limiting their opportunities. On average, a farmer’s annual income equals about one-sixth of the average salary of an urban citizen. This steep income disparity is exacerbated by how farmers pay a tax rate three times the amount urban residents pay, presenting a great challenge for upward social mobility.

The Borgen Project spoke with Lauren He, a former resident of Shanghai, about the hukou system’s inequities. He stated, “Because of my urban hukou status, I have evaded many barriers migrants face when moving to cities like Shanghai.”

“My grandparents did not grow up with the hukou system, so they were able to move to Shanghai from the countryside with fewer complications than what migrants face today. This system deeply disadvantages those who cannot get the necessary hukou,” said He.

Consumption Poverty Rates Show Inequity

Despite persisting inequity due in part to the hukou system, studies have shown that rural-to-urban migration reduces poverty. Migrant workers move to increase their salaries, with many sending money back to their families in less prosperous rural areas, expanding economic growth and lowering the risk of poverty.

However, the hukou system has widened inequities in many ways. Many migrants work jobs more susceptible to market change, indicating a higher risk of impoverishment. In addition, while migrants may have lower income poverty, they still face the challenges of high consumption poverty rates. Migrant workers with urban hukous consume up to 30% more than their counterparts without the proper hukou status, revealing a disparity linked to the hukou system.

The Future of Poverty Reduction in China

While reforms continue in the hukou system, other programs in China are working to counter poverty through more direct action. In 1989, the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation began its mission to combat poverty by organizing projects ranging from health care and education to economic development through infrastructure construction. Headquartered in Beijing, the CFPA targets domestic and global poverty, aiding the mission to end poverty for all.

With the work of organizations like CFPA and liberalizing restrictions on hukou, change may come to help eliminate disparities between urban and rural citizens in China.

– Michael Cardamone
Photo: Flickr

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Rising Youth Unemployment in China

Youth Unemployment in ChinaAt the end of June 2022, statistics showed that youth unemployment in China was rising significantly to an unprecedented level of 19.3%. This is partly due to the slow growth (only 0.4%) of the Chinese economy in the second quarter of this year. Such a worrying scene could require powerful solutions.

Reasons Behind Rising Youth Unemployment in China

Nearly one in five young men is unemployed in China, a country with the second largest economy in the world. One of the greatest contributors to youth unemployment in China was the pandemic and the government’s relative lockdown policies. As the Chinese government made tight policies to control the number and spread of COVID-19 cases, major cities including Shanghai experienced large-scale lockdowns, affecting many economic activities.

For example, the retail sales in China have decreased considerably by 11.1%, which was its highest contraction value since March 2020, according to the BBC. An executive at Huawei, Richard Yu, has expressed his worry that if the lockdown persisted, the whole “technology, industrial and automobile supply chains” would come to a full shutdown. The poor performance of the economy in the pandemic made unemployment become more widespread.

Also, due to the Chinese government’s policies since 2021, most extracurricular tutoring was banned in China to lower pressure and discourage competition among Chinese students. However, as many private tutoring institutions had to shut down, teachers lost their source of income.

Chinese Government’s Effort to Solve the Problem

Fortunately, youth employment in China is not at a dead end. Circumstances can get better for those young people who are desperately seeking jobs.

The Chinese government was aware of this problem and already implemented some measures. On the one hand, the government made it compulsory for state-owned businesses and institutions to create new jobs for young graduates from higher education. On the other hand, universities are opening up temporary positions for their own graduates as emergency support, according to NZZ.

The Future

Although the unemployment figure was high in June, the Chinese labor market has already started to revive slowly since May. It may take some time for the reviving effect to lower the youth unemployment rate. As the government started to focus on tackling this problem for the younger generation, it started to provide subsidies and guaranteed loans for small businesses to help them overcome the financial difficulties that came with the pandemic lockdowns.

It was clear that the strict lockdown policies in China limited economic performance instantly. However, the economy is recovering steadily since the end of the second quarter of 2022. Consumer expenditures, including the key Chinese industry—vehicles, have experienced an impressive boost since June. In fact, economists from other countries still give high expectations for China’s future economic growth.

Hopefully, a more thriving economy could benefit the job market and ease the pressing problem of youth unemployment in China very soon.

– Ella Li
Photo: Flickr

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9 Facts About Disability and Poverty in China

Poverty and DisabilityMany factors can contribute to poverty in China, including disability. Due to socioeconomic barriers and discrimination, people with disabilities are more likely to live in poverty. With a high population rate, China has one of the largest numbers of disabled people living in poverty. Unemployment, lack of education and discrimination are just some of the many challenges this population faces in China.

9 Facts About Disability and Poverty in China

  1. High Disability Population: The total population of people living with disabilities in China reached 85 million in 2018, which is 6.5% of the total Chinese population. In 2006, men accounted for 51% of the disabled population while 49% were women. Many of these individuals often do not receive adequate support due to discrimination or “ableism,” meaning social prejudice against people with disabilities. In an article titled “Gender and Disability in Chinese Higher Education,” China is categorized as an ableist society with a number of injustices facing the disability community. As such, people with disabilities are “often seen as persons presenting inconvenience and burdens to society.” Ableism in China has also led to many children with disabilities being abandoned. Some statistics estimate around 98% of abandoned children in China may have disabilities. Thus, societal prejudices contribute significantly to the lack of support that individuals with disabilities in China receive.
  2. Lack of Education: The lack of quality education offered to people with disabilities in China has disadvantaged these individuals academically and economically. In China, the gap in education quality for disabled individuals is growing. Poverty remains a crucial obstacle in the empowerment of those living with disabilities. Due to this lower quality education, individuals aged 15 and above with disabilities have an illiteracy rate greater than 40%. This difference is staggering compared to the 3.3% illiteracy rate for the same age group without disabilities. Similarly, the lack of education provided to people with disabilities in China causes these individuals to experience challenges during the employment process. Jobs often require proficiency in language skills, leaving disabled individuals at a disadvantage.
  3. Lack of Monetary Support: Often, Chinese employers do not provide sufficient support to individuals with disabilities. Employment services for disabled people in China are at the initial stages, and they have proven to be inadequate to help unemployed, disabled persons obtain jobs. The quality of employment, including wage levels and conditions of work, have room for improvement. Because of the lack of proper services to economically empower people with disabilities, these individuals often live in poverty.
  4. High Disability Rate in Rural Areas: The disabled population in urban areas accounted for 20.71 million, or 20.96%, of the population. Meanwhile, the disabled population in rural areas is 62.25 million, or 75.04%. There are significantly more disabled people living in rural areas compared to urban areas. The employment difference is mainly due to this gap in the urban and rural populations. Initially, China had a very agricultural-based economy. However, with recent economic reforms, the country has industrialized, and most of the population now lives in urban areas. Many rural residents face obstacles in moving to urban areas, mainly because most only receive short-term contracts that do not entitle them to urban residency status. The lack of residency status prevents them from accessing proper healthcare services and other benefits. This gap is an even more significant barrier for people with disabilities, as a lack of appropriate care can be detrimental to their health.
  5. Discrimination Against Disabled Employees: China’s anti-discriminatory laws, especially in employment, are often not followed. China has laws that ensure protection and equal rights for disabled people. However, employers frequently ignore these laws. While the Chinese government installed a quote system in 2008 with penalties for failing to abide, many employers preferred to pay the fine than hire a worker with a disability. These discriminatory actions put workers with disabilities at a greater disadvantage for finding employment and gaining support from their government.
  6. High Mortality Rate: According to the U.N., in countries where “under-five mortality,” meaning the probability (per 1,000) that a newborn will die before reaching the age of 5, has decreased below 20%, the mortality rate for children with disabilities may be as high as 80%. In China, the 2019 mortality rate for children under five is 7.9%, which is less than 20%. This means that there is a high death rate for children with disabilities. Additionally, there is a lack of medical services available for families without health insurance to support a disabled child.
  7. Adult Opposition: Parental opposition and the lack of trained teachers represent further obstacles to quality education. Students with disabilities do not receive adequate learning because there is a lack of trained teachers who know how to create an inclusive environment at school. Research has shown that although 77% of teachers have experience teaching students with special needs, 60% of teachers have not received the proper training nor know how to teach them in an inclusive environment. This ineffective education system for students with disabilities sets the foundation for future disempowerment in China’s economic and social spheres.
  8. Disability Cycle: Disability and poverty are creating a cycle in which one reinforces the other. Low-income individuals often lack access to quality healthcare, and this healthcare disparity further aggravates the burdens of these groups. These healthcare programs expose individuals to diseases that can lead to long-term disabilities. Disability can then lead to decreased productivity, preventing these individuals from working, and thus resulting in unemployment. Ultimately, higher unemployment rates lead to higher poverty rates, creating a cycle of poverty and disability.
  9. Lack of Employment: Discrimination and bias hold back disabled individuals from employment and lead to higher poverty rates. People with disabilities in China face prejudice and discrimination and are often marginalized and “largely invisible” to others. Research studies exploring the discrimination that individuals with disabilities face reveal that birthing or raising a person with a disability was believed to bring shame and guilt to the family. Because of this widespread stigma, there is a belief that people with disabilities are incapable of working, which causes many barriers for them in accessing employment opportunities. As a result of less employment, there is an increase in poverty.

Looking Ahead

While poverty in China affects a significant portion of its population, it has disproportionately affected individuals with disabilities due to the unique economic and social disadvantages they face. From lack of employment opportunities, lower-quality education and poor healthcare access to the persisting stigma associated with disabilities and rampant discrimination, challenges for people with disabilities are numerous in this country. China can continue to support its disabled community through education initiatives, economic opportunities and protective legislative actions.

– Philip Tang
Photo: Unsplash

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How Heritage Preservation Reduces Poverty

How Heritage Preservation Reduces PovertyCultural heritage preservation means keeping the artifacts and traditions of a community intact against factors trying to change them or wear them away. Some common examples are restoring historical buildings, passing on an ancient craft or recording traditional tales. Cultural heritage is crucial for communities. It gives them a way to look back on their history in a way that informs their present-day identity. It also provides the communities with new chances to thrive.

Many people behind cultural conservation programs prioritize staying local and helping their communities as much as possible. Often, people living in poverty or those on the outskirts of society are the ones first offered these opportunities. In this sense, heritage preservation reduces poverty and helps communities by giving people employment and education.

Heritage Tourism

Cultural heritage preservation encourages as well as utilizes tourism. Heritage Tourism is one of the major ways preserving cultural heritage can reduce poverty in a community. It often boosts a community’s economy and can become one of its major industries. Many tourists visit cultural sites and partake in culturally-enriching activities while traveling and tend to stay longer at these places.

As tourism increases, so do jobs for local community members directly involved in tourist activities (such as museum guides or re-enactors) and those not associated with tourism (such as the food industry or local shops). Employers can then afford to pay their employees more as they receive more and more business. People also become encouraged to start their own businesses or move their businesses to these small communities upon seeing the economy emerge and grow. A Pakistan-based study published in February 2020 shows that increases in tourism noticeably improve a community overall. A 1% increase in tourism can enhance the GPD by 0.051%, agricultural development by 0.26%, direct foreign investment by nearly 2.65% and potentially decrease poverty by 0.51%.

Examples of Cultural Heritage Preservation

An example of a cultural heritage preservation project that has greatly helped a small, rural community is the Rural Revitalization Drama Festival. It occurs in Shixia Village in China and showcases traditional Chinese Opera. Though Shixia was an impoverished village in 2010, the tourism created by the festival has provided more jobs. It has created more opportunities for extra income, encouraged people who previously left the village to return and urged people to start businesses there. The festival has also highlighted other cultural treasures in the area that promoted even more preservation projects and tourism. By 2019, they were able to purchase the technology needed to process their own millet crops; whereas, they previously had to outsource production to other places.

These disciplines and practices are culturally important, but they also give many people the chances of employment and education. For example, in the Philippines, Escuela Taller has created education programs in different traditional disciplines, such as carpentry and metalwork. In Peru, local women were trained in creating traditional textiles in order to support themselves and their families. This project was created by Centro de Textiles Tradicionale del Cusco in 1996 with the support of JoinTrafalgar and the TreadRight Foundation.

How Heritage Preservation Reduces Poverty

Cultural heritage preservation reduces poverty and helps communities by passing down ancient, artisan crafts to new generations. Preserving cultural heritage is a way of declaring to others that the people and the communities housing these museums, historical buildings and traditions are important and worth protecting. With people empathizing with a community, it can encourage them to fight against the destruction of land or buildings. It can inspire people to donate and even start charities and nonprofits. Preserving cultural heritage reduces poverty by promoting the visibility and the empowerment of communities. It can at first seem to only be about showcasing a country’s history but it runs deeper. Cultural heritage preservation gives modern people a chance at a prosperous future.

– Mikayla Burton

Photo: Flickr

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Global Brands Connected to Forced Uyghur Labor

Forced Uyghur LaborForced labor stemming from human rights violations in the Xinjiang province of China has been linked to at least 83 major corporations. In a report released by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) in February 2020, companies such as Nike, Gap, H&M, Apple, BMW, Gap, Huawei, Samsung, Sony and Volkswagen all have connections to the use of forced Uyghur labor in China. The report identified 27 factories in China that employ the use of labor transferred from Xinjiang.

Human Rights Violations of the Uyghur Population

Between 2017 and 2019, it is estimated that over 80,000 Uyghurs were moved out of Xinjiang to work in factories across China through labor transfer programs known as “Xinjiang Aid.”  The Chinese government refers to these job assignments as “vocational training” while maintaining that they are part of the “re-education” process assigned to the Uyghur population. These programs have all been identified in connection to the human rights abuses of the Uyghur population as a whole.

It is reported that surveillance tools are being used to monitor the Uyghur population in these programs and to restrict their freedom of movement. Additionally, it has been reported that they are subject to threats, arbitrary detainment and abusive working conditions.

Factories Identified and Company Responses

The companies identified in connection to this forced labor use include international brands that span across the technology, clothing and automotive sectors.

In the technology sector, Apple, Amazon, Samsung, Sony and Microsoft, among others, have been connected to factories that utilize forced labor in China. Amazon has issued a statement saying they do not tolerate the use of forced labor and will be investigating these findings further.

The Qingdao Taekwang Shoes Co. Ltd has been specifically connected to forced labor of the Uyghur population. Workers at this factory also attend a night school that seems to closely resemble the “re-education camps” in the Xinjiang province. Nike is this factory’s primary customer and released a statement saying that the factory has not recruited new workers from Xinjiang since last year and that it is seeking advice on the most responsible path toward handling the employment of the remaining workers from this region.

The Haoyuanpeng Clothing Manufacturing Co. Ltd is also identified as using forced labor. This factory’s corporate website cites partnerships with the companies Fila, Adidas, Puma and Nike. Adidas specifically stated that it does not have a current relationship with the company and is investigating this claim. Nike has also released a statement that it has no current relationship with the factory.

Since the release of ASPI’s report, H&M has ended a relationship with a Chinese yarn supplier due to its ties to forced labor.

The Global Supply Chain

The complexity of the global supply chain has undoubtedly made it more difficult for global corporations to monitor the connections of their suppliers to forced labor in China, but ASPI reached out to all 83 brands included in the report to confirm details of their suppliers as listed in the report.

Unfortunately, companies and consumers are now put at risk by purchasing goods that connect to forced labor. Investors in these 83 companies are potentially at risk as well. U.S. Congress has recently introduced legislation to protect investors through the requirement of disclosure of goods sourced from Xinjiang.

The End Uyghur Forced Labor Coalition

There are several advocacy groups dedicated to spreading awareness and furthering tangible steps to end the persecution and exploitation of the Uyghur population. The End Uyghur Forced Labor Coalition has written to 17 companies regarding the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (S. 3471), which is intended to end the use of forced labor from this region in supply chains. The coalition has also issued a call to action that aims for brands to remove all connections with suppliers that have used forced labor. This has been endorsed by investor organizations from more than 35 countries as well as more than 300 Uyghur groups, trade unions and civil society groups.

Ending Forced Uyghur Labor

Though most companies were not aware of the use of forced labor of Uyghurs, along with the awareness that was brought to light, action is also being taken by these companies to show that they do not support forced labor by any means. The End Uyghur Forced Labor Coalition is doing important work to continue bringing awareness to the issue and to protect the rights of this vulnerable minority population.

– Katherine Musgrave
Photo: Flickr

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Eradicating Rural Poverty for the Maonan in China

eradicating rural povertyThe Huanjiang Maonan Autonomous County lies in Guanxi in southern China. A majority of China’s Maonan ethnic group live here in rural villages. Once considered one of China’s most impoverished places, the poverty rate has now dropped to under 2% thanks to efforts by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). By using advanced farming techniques and relocating people to more arable areas, CAS has provided a model for eradicating rural poverty in China.

CAS Goals

Just over 100,000 Maonan live in China, most in small rural villages. About 70,000 of them live in Huanjiang. In the 1990s, Maonan farmers grew mostly corn and sweet potatoes, barely scraping by. The Chinese government identified Huanjiang as one of the most impoverished counties in China.

Maonan villages were located in mountainous, rocky regions known as karst landscapes. These areas are prone to desertification and are unsuitable for farming. CAS started the Kenfu Huanjiang Ecological Migration Pilot Zone in 1996. Its two goals were to relocate people to new villages in areas more suitable for agriculture and to improve the livelihoods of those that refused to relocate.

New Farming Techniques and Solutions

CAS introduced advanced farming techniques that better suit the area. An important change was the shift from farming to livestock. Huanjiang is highly flood-prone so CAS helped plant various grasses that can support animals. Zeng Fuping, a researcher with CAS who has been in Huanjiang since 1994, remarked that “the farmers were unsure initially and they questioned growing something that they could not eat.” However, the results speak for themselves. Income has increased tenfold since the introduction of 200 cattle into the region in 2001. Not only do the grasses support livestock but they also help prevent soil erosion. They have helped prevent widespread desertification, which is a common problem in karst landscapes. This serves as a model for maintaining arable land in karst areas across China.

Eradicating Rural Poverty

The speed of poverty reduction in Huanjiang has been staggering. In 1996, the average resident only earned the equivalent of $45 per year. That number rose to $835 in 2012 and $1600 in 2019.

In 2015, more than 14,000 Maonan people in Huanjiang lived below the Chinese poverty line of $345 per year. This accounted for around 22% of all Maonan peoples living in the county. By 2019, less than 1.5% of Maonan lived in poverty, amounting to 548 people. Due to the efforts of CAS, Huanjiang is no longer an area of extreme poverty in China.

In all of Guanxi, CAS has helped facilitate 400,000 people with relocation to new villages. This includes a majority of the Maonan community. Poverty percentages in Huanjiang have dropped to single digits. Livestock farming has reduced soil erosion and given locals much more disposable income. UNESCO dubbed this strategy the “Kenfu Model” and it is an important example of eradicating rural poverty in China.

– Adam Jancsek
Photo: Flickr

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STEM Education Can Reduce Poverty in Rural China

STEM Education Can Reduce povertyEducation has long been proven as a tool for poverty reduction. In fact, UNESCO estimates that if all people in low-income countries had basic reading skills, an estimated 171 million people could escape poverty. Education allows for upward socioeconomic mobility for those in poverty by providing access to more skilled, higher-paying jobs. In particular, STEM education can reduce poverty.

STEM Education

STEM refers to science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Because of the shifting focus toward STEM in the job market, millions of STEM jobs are opening up in developing countries. However, many go unfilled because of gaps in the STEM education pipeline. These jobs could be the key to helping the poor to improve their standards of living, but those in poverty often lack the education necessary for these jobs, such as in rural China.

Education Disparities in China

Education in China is becoming more accessible and comprehensive. Since the 1980s, the adult literacy rate has risen from 65% to 96% and the rate of high school graduates seeking higher education has risen from 20% to 60%. However, these gains are not equal across the country. Rural students in China have often been left behind in the education reform movement. More than 70% of urban students attend college while less than 5% of rural students do, partly because urban residents make about three times more than rural residents. Another reason has to do with parental support; a researcher at the University of Oslo found that over 95% of urban parents wanted their children to attend college, while under 60% of rural parents wanted the same.

Rural students also receive lower-quality education than urban students. Despite China’s Compulsory Education Law in 1986, rural schools often lack the ability to put the proposed reforms in place because they do not have the educational resources. Teachers are scarcer in village schools as most qualified professionals flock to the urban areas where there is a higher standard of living and higher pay. As a result, fewer rural students get into top colleges and therefore lose out on opportunities for advancement.

Generational Poverty and the Effect of STEM

Generational poverty refers to families that have spent two or more generations in poverty. This is especially common in rural areas where parents have a harder time generating the necessary income for their children’s education, which perpetuates the cycle of poverty when the children grow up. In rural China, about 5.1 million people live in the throes of generational poverty. This is due to a number of factors but a major one is lack of educational opportunities in the rural provinces.

STEM education can reduce poverty by helping children in rural provinces break the cycle of generational poverty. Since 2016, 248 high schools in poor areas have tuned into live lessons hosted by one of the top high schools in China, giving poor students the ability to receive the same education as their upper-middle-class peers. As a result, 88 of the participating rural students were admitted into China’s top two universities — universities that are estimated to have a rural population of only 1%.

Organizations for STEM Education

Some groups are working to bring STEM education to even younger students. In 2019, Lenovo, a technology company started in China, donated 652 sets of scientific toolboxes to primary schools in Huangzhong County, Qinghai Province, an area that is over 90% agrarian. The toolboxes contained materials that helped children perform science experiments and solved the problem of the lack of equipment in rural schools. Each toolbox, spread over 122 schools, helped 12 children at once and was reusable. In total, it enabled about 43,903 primary and secondary school students to become more scientifically literate and will prepare them better for future education and employment.

The Green & Shine Foundation is also helping teachers better instruct their students. It trains rural teachers in teaching necessary STEM skills to help lay the foundation for more STEM education later in their students’ lives. It also helps to develop curriculums and hold exchange programs with STEM schools so that rural teachers can observe and discuss new teaching methods. These efforts have helped 1,411,292 rural teachers and students across China.

STEM for Ending Generational Poverty

China has made strides in alleviating poverty, reducing its poverty rate every year since implementing major reforms. The Chinese government needs to prioritize investment in STEM education in rural provinces to close the education gap between rural and urban students and help bring an end to generational poverty. STEM education can reduce poverty globally.

– Brooklyn Quallen
Photo: Flickr

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Into the Unknown: US-Chinese Relations in the Era of COVID-19

U.S. and ChinaCOVID-19 has brought nearly all facets of normal life and governance to a screeching halt. On all fronts, from the economy to the military, the coronavirus has changed the way this planet runs. One area that has been heavily affected by the pandemic but does not get as much attention is international relations.

Diplomatic relations between countries is one of the toughest areas of government. It has become even more difficult to fully engage in with the onset of COVID-19. With more states turning to domestic engagement, the status quo of international relations has been shaken. In no foreign relationship is this more clear than that between the United States of America and the People’s Republic of China.

U.S.-China Diplomatic Relations

Current diplomatic relations between the U.S. and China were established under President Richard Nixon in 1972. Since then, the relationship between the two countries has experienced highs and lows. In 2020, it is nearly at an all-time low. The hostile status of this relationship now mainly stems from the ascension of President Xi Jinping of China to power in 2013, and the election of the U.S. President Donald Trump in 2016.

Under these two leaders, U.S.-Chinese relations have greatly diminished over the last four years. A rise in nationalism and “America First” policies under President Trump’s administration has alienated the Chinese amidst constant public attacks on the ‘authoritarianism’ of Jinping’s government. For example, China’s encroachment on Hong Kong’s autonomy over the last two years has been the subject of extensive international condemnation, particularly from President Trump and the United States. In addition, the two countries have been engaged in a high-profile trade war since the beginning of 2018.

More recently, a dramatic escalation in the deteriorating relationship between the two countries was taken in July 2020, when the U.S. ordered the closing of the Chinese consulate in Houston, Texas, on the basis of technological-espionage on China’s part. In retaliation, China ordered the American consulate in the city of Chengdu to close as well. Another significant strain on the diplomatic relations between the U.S. and China is COVID-19.

The Outbreak of the Coronavirus

Since the outbreak of coronavirus began in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, more than 4,600 people have died in China, over a period of nearly nine months. In the same amount of time, almost 180,000 people have died in the U.S. The U.S. government has consistently blamed the Chinese for failing to contain the virus. China has firmly denied these accusations. COVID-19 has seriously damaged the economic and healthcare systems of both the U.S. and China. Both systems have lost nearly all economic gains they’ve made since the 2008-2010 recession. While state economies around the globe also suffer, the decline of the economies of these two specific countries has far-reaching implications. Not only is the global economy in danger, but military alliances and foreign aid are as well.

Global Economy

Nearly every nation on earth has some kind of economic partnership with either the U.S., China or both. For example, the United Arab Emirates has been an ally of the U.S. since 1974, but in recent years has engaged in a pivotal economic partnership with China. Continued threats of tariffs and pulling out of trade agreements threaten the balance of these partnerships. These threats could force smaller nations to choose sides between the U.S. and China, should this confrontation escalate.

Military Alliances

While the U.S. enjoys a military advantage over China, China has allied itself with many of America’s adversaries, such as Russia, Iran and North Korea. These alliances have been solidified in recent years, for example, just before the coronavirus broke out in China in December 2019, China, Russia and Iran conducted nearly a week-long military exercise in the Gulf of Oman, a strategic waterway for oil tankers. An American confrontation with any one of these countries could draw China into the conflict, which could spell disaster for the world order.

International Aid

As part of China’s “charm offensive” in the early 2000s, the country began to heavily invest in the reconstruction of the economies and infrastructure in impoverished African states. In exchange, China received rights to natural resources such as oil in these countries. The U.S. also maintains a high level of foreign assistance in Africa. COVID-19 forces the U.S. and China to put more of their respective resources toward rebuilding their own economies. However, the aid they both provide to developing states worldwide diminishes at a time when those states need it most.

It is clear that even before the coronavirus spread to all corners of the globe, the turbulent relationship between the U.S. and China was advancing toward a breaking point. The pandemic has, to some extent, halted the diminishing state of relations between the two countries. However, any further provocations similar to the closing of the consulates in Houston and Chengdu could result in a catastrophe. The impacts of this relationship extend beyond the U.S. and China; they affect nations that heavily depend on the aid they receive from both powers.

– Alexander Poran
Photo: Pixabay

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The Education System in China

Education System in ChinaThe People’s Republic of China has a reputation for excellence in its education system. China has around 1.3 billion people in population and has one of the largest education systems in the world. It has more than 500,000 schools alone. The education system in China is not only substantial but also diverse. There are more than 300 million students and over 14 million teachers.

How The Education System in China Works

It is mandatory in China that every child has to have at least up to nine years of the required education. In addition, education is state-run. This means it has a very small association with private providers. Education is divided into three main groups: basic education, higher education and adult education. The basic education for children in China includes primary school which starts from age six to around age 11 or 12 for the average Chinese resident. Thanks to the “Law on Nine-Year Compulsory Education,” all basic education is tuition-free. After the nine required years, there is a modest fee for tuition during middle and high school.

Moreover, junior secondary school which starts from age 12 to 15. After junior middle school students have finished their mandatory education requirement, they have the option to continue with senior secondary education which is usually a three-year program. These can be followed by other adult educations such as a university for a bachelor’s degree or master’s/Ph.D. program.

Development of The Education System in China

The Chinese education system is not only rigorous but extremely competitive. It has developed at an alarming speed over the last two decades. In addition, the education system in China offers their children many opportunities to thrive in the future. However, it did not always start this way. In the 1950s, the enrollment rate in Chinese elementary schools was below 20% and only 6% for junior secondary school. The country’s main form of education was similar to the Soviet education system. However, as the Soviet paradigm declined China started to change its education style.

By 1978, there were almost 1.3 million primary and secondary schools, a vast improvement just a mere few decades ago. But the steps toward modernization were not yet completed, there were still only about 600 higher learning organizations with only around 117,000 students. Thus, the education system in China was reorganized yet again to the system the country has today. By 1986, the “Compulsory Education Law of the People’s Republic of China” was born. It began executing laws for mandatory education for nine years of a child’s life.

In 2007, the state passed a law that students who were in rural areas were given free tuition for their mandatory nine-year education life. The following year this law was extended to urban living children as well. As of 2018, China has more than 29 million students enrolled in higher education alone, drastically boosting their economy.

COVID-19 Response

COVID-19 being an extremely widespread pandemic has posed some serious challenges for education everywhere. Being one of the first countries to get hit, China took immediate steps to try and solve the education issue during this pandemic. When China got hit, China immediately released an “epidemic prevention, control and containment” response plan. The goal was to handle the pandemic in the smartest and safest way possible, including how education would be affected.

China shut down schools in late January and started advancing their online virtual classes. Along with the new innovation, China did to its online platforms, the country also delays college entrance exams. It banned teaching a new curriculum until the next semester. The country hopes students who had difficulty in accessing online courses would not be hurt by this dramatic change.

Schools currently are open in China, but that may change depending on the state of COVID-19. Until then, China is taking extra precautions with temperatures taken before children go to school. Once they get to school, masks are required and the desks are all three feet apart.

– Katelyn Mendez
Photo: Flickr