China is a heavily populated country in East Asia. Since the financial crisis in 2008, China has become the second largest economy in the world and the number one contributor to the world’s overall growth. With the impact China has and its status as a major tourist attraction, many people don’t realize that poverty within the nation’s walls is still quite common.

In as recent as 2015, there were 55 million poor people in rural areas. The World Bank explains that because of China’s fast-growing economy, it has brought on challenges such as high inequality, environmental sustainability issues and poverty. Thankfully, China is aware of these problems and works to eradicate poverty within its walls. With this in mind, here are the top 10 facts about poverty in China.

 

10 Facts About Poverty in China

1. China has the goal to completely overcome poverty by 2020, which would make the country an overall prosperous society.
2. Just in 2016, China was able to help put 12.4 rural people above the poverty line. This surpassed their 2016 goal of bringing at least 10 million people out of poverty.
3. Around 775,000 officials went to villages in the end of 2016 because of a CPC program that hoped to aid poverty relief. This is one of the reasons China’s poverty numbers decreased immensely during this year.
4. However, towards the end of 2016, China still had 43.35 million people under the poverty line of 2,300 yuan (about $334) in annual income.
5. Regardless of existing struggles, China brought 55.64 million rural people out of poverty from 2013 to 2016.
6. Because China has such a large population, officials are worried about population sizes in major cities. Consequently, rural residents are often forced to move to the outskirts of third-tier cities, which often have little infrastructure and a setting that makes it easier for Chinese residents to fall under the poverty line. Additionally, these towns often lack healthcare and education services because there are not enough teachers or medical care workers in these areas.
7. With so many loans taken out for poverty assistance, Chinese debt in 2000 to 2014 rose from $2.1 trillion to $28.2 trillion. This amount is projected to increase by around 300 percent of GDP by the year 2022.
8. In 2017, China lifted 12.89 million rural people from poverty which put the poverty rate at 3.1 percent compared to its 4.5 percent the previous year.
9. Around 500 million people, or 40 percent of the population within China, survive on $5.50 per day or less.
10. Unfortunately, corruption has emerged within this topic — there have been upwards of 1,800 people investigated for embezzling antipoverty funds and other crimes of the like.

 

A Bright Future

Even though these ten facts about poverty in China demonstrates the improvements necessary to eradicate poverty completely, amazing strides have already been taken by the country itself and the global community at large. Even after these accomplishments, China is not stopping the fight — the nation continues to work towards eliminating poverty completely. Thankfully, poverty in this nation is getting both national and international attention, making it an issue far from being ignored and thus better off for a solution.

– McCall Robinson

Photo: Flickr