韩青 | Speech at the National Conference to Review the Fight Against Poverty and Commend Outstanding Individuals and Groups
21:35 Share

嘉宾简介：        韩青，国网国际发展有限公司青年代表。 英文文本： We have won international acclaim for our achievements in the fight against poverty. These achievements would not have been possible without the strong leadership of the CPC, the Chinese people's spirit of self-reliance and hard work, the solid material foundations laid down since the founding of the PRC and particularly since the launch of reform and opening up, the perseverance and dedication of one official after another, and the concerted efforts of all the Party members and all the Chinese people. Based on our national conditions and our understanding of the structures underlying poverty alleviation, we have adopted a series of distinctive policies and measures, established a whole set of effective policies, working mechanisms and systems, pioneered a unique Chinese path to poverty reduction, and formed a Chinese theory on fighting poverty. – We have upheld the leadership of the CPC to provide solid political and organizational guarantees for the fight against poverty. We have upheld the centralized, unified leadership of the Central Committee over the fight against poverty, and planned and promoted related initiatives as part of the Five-sphere Integrated Plan and the Four-pronged Comprehensive Strategy. We have strengthened the working mechanism under which the central leadership makes overall plans, provincial authorities assume overall responsibility, and city and county authorities take charge of implementation. We have worked to ensure that secretaries of Party committees at the provincial, city, county, township, and village levels tackled poverty alleviation as a major priority, and that all Party members were mobilized in the fight.  We have put in place a system whereby top leaders of the Party and government bodies take full responsibility for the fight against poverty, with the leaders of 22 provincial-level administrative units in the central and western regions signing pledges to the central authorities that they would achieve their objectives. Furthermore, we arranged that Party and government chiefs of impoverished counties would not be moved to new posts while poverty eradication efforts were ongoing in their areas. We have worked to build up village organizations led by the Party organization at the same level, and to strengthen village-level Party organizations so that they can be more effective in leading the people out of poverty. We have sent our best teams to the main battlefields of the fight against poverty, assigning 255,000 work teams and more than 3 million first secretaries and officials to villages nationwide, where they worked on the front lines alongside nearly 2 million town and township officials and millions of village officials. The bright red flag of the CPC has always flown high on the main battlefields of the fight against poverty. The CPC has proved that it has unparalleled capacity to lead, organize and implement, and that it is the most reliable force for uniting the people and guiding them to overcome difficulties and forge ahead. As long as we are steadfast in our commitment to upholding the leadership of the Party, we will be able to overcome any difficulties or obstacles on the road ahead and fulfill the people's aspirations for a better life. – We have adhered to the people-centered development philosophy, and followed the path of common prosperity without deviation. To quote an ancient Chinese historian, “The key to running a country is to first enrich the people.”4 We have always stood on the side of the people, and consistently emphasized that eradicating poverty, improving the people's lives, and achieving common prosperity are essential requirements of socialism. They are important manifestations of the CPC's commitment to its fundamental purpose of serving the people wholeheartedly, and major responsibilities of the Party and the government. We have made public satisfaction an important measure for the effectiveness of poverty eradication initiatives, and focused our efforts on addressing the basic needs of the poor. We have given full play to the guiding role of government investment, cutting back on a number of other major projects to ensure funding for poverty eradication. Over the past eight years, central, provincial, city and county governments have earmarked a total of almost RMB1.6 trillion for poverty alleviation, of which RMB660.1 billion came from the central government. The critical battle against poverty was launched in 2012. The following are some of the funds that have been directed to poverty alleviation: •more than RMB440 billion from land transfer between and within provinces to ensure cropland acreage and proper land use for construction; •more than RMB710 billion in microloans and RMB668.8 billion in re-lending to help the poor; •RMB9.2 trillion in loans for targeted poverty alleviation; •more than RMB100.5 billion of government fiscal support and non-governmental financial help provided by nine eastern provinces and municipalities to the areas with which they were collaborating on poverty alleviation; •over RMB1 trillion invested in poverty-stricken areas by designated enterprises from the eastern region. We have integrated government funds for rural development, strengthened scrutiny over funds for poverty alleviation, and ensured that the money is used where it is needed most. These investments have provided strong capital guarantees for winning the fight against poverty. Our experience demonstrates clearly that for the undertakings of the Party and country to be accomplished, all initiatives must serve one immutable goal – realizing, defending and developing the fundamental interests of the people, while a conscious effort must be made to ensure that reform and development offer greater benefits to all the people in a fair way. As long as we follow the people-centered development philosophy and keep working year by year to tackle one issue after another, we will be able to make clear and substantial progress in achieving common prosperity for all our people. – We have leveraged the strengths of China's socialist system in pooling resources behind major undertakings and are united in will and action to fight poverty. We have mobilized the whole Party, the entire nation, and all sectors of society to join the war against poverty. This has allowed us to bring together the strength of the Party, the government, the military, the public, and the academic community across the country, and channel it towards the fight. We have reinforced collaboration between the eastern and western regions on poverty alleviation, encouraged provinces, cities and counties to pair up with their counterparts and provide assistance, and promoted the flow of talent, capital and technology to impoverished areas. We have organized and launched poverty alleviation assistance to designated areas, involving all central Party and government departments, the other political parties, people's organizations, state-owned enterprises, and the armed forces. We have ensured that all key counties under the national development-driven poverty alleviation initiative can turn to somebody for help. Different industries and sectors have brought their specializations to bear to fight poverty through the development of local businesses, science and technology, education, cultural programs and health services, and by boosting the consumption of products and services from poor areas. Private enterprises, social organizations, and individual citizens have enthusiastically participated in poverty alleviation initiatives, and the “10,000 enterprises helping 10,000 villages” campaign has built up great momentum. We have established a comprehensive setup for poverty alleviation in which government-sponsored projects, sector-specific programs, and societal assistance supplement each other, as well as a social poverty alleviation system featuring coordination between regions, departments and organizations in which all of society participates. The tens of millions of positive actions that have helped the poor demonstrate the tremendous compassion of our society, and have merged to form an unstoppable force. CPC leadership and our socialist system have proved to be the fundamental guarantees for withstanding risks and challenges and overcoming difficulties through concerted efforts. As long as we uphold the leadership of the CPC and follow the path of Chinese socialism, we will be able to confront other serious challenges like poverty eradication, and advance from victory to victory. – We have followed a targeted strategy in poverty alleviation, and eliminated the root causes of poverty through development. We have emphasized that a targeted approach is the crux of the fight against poverty. We have committed to precise work in poverty alleviation in terms of the management of target groups, allocation of resources, and provision of assistance, and set up a national registration system to ensure that resources have reached the people and the places that truly needed them. To identify the targets of poverty alleviation, determine who to help and how to help, and make clear how to apply an exit mechanism for those who have emerged from poverty, we have adopted a set of targeted policies tailored to individual villages, households, and people, to their specific conditions, and to the circumstances that made them poor in the first place, so that we can address the root causes of poverty with precision. We have demanded meticulous efforts to ensure that poverty alleviation work hits the target, addresses the problem at its roots, and gets to the families who need it, so that the average progress does not mask cases of individual hardship. Through our commitment to development-driven poverty alleviation, under which development is the fundamental approach to eliminating poverty, we have improved conditions and boosted capacity for development, bringing about a shift in poverty alleviation from simply injecting help into poverty- stricken areas to enabling these areas to help themselves. This has made development the most effective means of eliminating poverty, and the most reliable path towards a better life. We have maintained a keen focus on education as an essential vehicle for helping people out of poverty and towards prosperity, emphasizing that no child should be deprived of education or opportunities and lose out before the race has even begun because they are poor. We have worked hard to give every child the chance to excel in life, and done our best to break the chain of intergenerational poverty.  Targeted poverty alleviation has proved to be the “magic weapon” for winning the battle against poverty, while the development-driven approach has emerged as the distinctive feature of China's path to poverty reduction. As long as we stick to targeted and rational methods, impose precise requirements on our work, and continue to address imbalanced and insufficient development through development itself, we will be able to provide a sound path forward and lasting momentum for economic and social development and for improving people's lives. – We are committed to mobilizing the enthusiasm, initiative and creativity of impoverished people so that they have the drive to lift themselves out of poverty. The ancient Chinese philosopher Han Fei Zi said, “The key to achieving your aspirations lies not in overcoming others but in over- coming your own weaknesses.” Similarly, to shake off poverty, the poor must shake off the mindset of poverty. We have focused on making the people's desire for a better life a strong source of motivation in the fight against poverty. We have helped poor people build the confidence and capacity to help themselves, and seen that their pockets are full and their minds are keen, while encouraging them to lift themselves out of poverty and change their lives by relying on their own hard work and tenacity. We have helped them understand that it is better to put in hard work now than spend more hard years waiting, that they will achieve prosperity as long as they believe in themselves, and that even the weakest in the flock can catch up through perseverance. Our encouragement has warmed their hearts and stirred them into action. To quote two individuals who have risen from poverty: “Now that the state policies are in place, as long as we get to work rather than sit by and wait, we can surely create better lives for ourselves.” “Life has changed me, and I have changed my life.” The people have shown themselves to be the real heroes, and boosting their own drive to be self-reliant and work hard has been vital in arming them to create better lives for themselves. As long as we continue to work for the people, rely on them, respect their principal position and creativity, and tap into their wisdom and strength, we will achieve even greater success. –We have promoted the virtues of solidarity and mutual help, creating an atmosphere in which all of society helps those in need. We have encouraged all of society to practice the core socialist values and to keep alive the traditional Chinese virtues of looking out for one another, coming together in times of difficulty, and helping those in need. We have guided all sectors of society in showing care for the poor and concern for the cause of poverty reduction, and in committing themselves to the campaign. We have refined mechanisms for mobilizing society, set up platforms for society-wide participation, and created new forms of social assistance, so that everybody has the desire, the ability, and the tools to help. The core socialist values and China's fine traditional culture have proved to be a powerful force for rallying people's support and pooling their strength. As long as we remain firm in our moral values, as long as we continue to inspire positive energy that will drive all of society towards goodness and excellence, we will be able to equip the Chinese nation with an inexhaustible source of inner strength with which we can cleave the waves and sail forward. –We have persevered with a realistic and pragmatic approach when confronting tough challenges, in order to ensure that our poverty alleviation initiatives reach those who truly need help. We have incorporated the requirement to enforce full and rigorous Party self-governance throughout the process and in every aspect of the fight against poverty. With steely determination, we have carried the fight to the end. We have highlighted the need to follow a pragmatic approach, strictly enforce established rules, and avoid becoming bogged down in red tape or being deflected by impractical measures or superficial, eye-catching initiatives. We have resolutely opposed approaches that do not address problems properly, indiscriminate distribution of resources without regard for priorities, unrealistic projects pursued solely for show, and pointless formalities and bureaucratism; instead we have focused all of our work on addressing the problems of the poor. We have put in place the most rigorous assessments and evaluations possible, worked to address corruption and misconduct in the field of poverty alleviation, and established a comprehensive monitoring system, so that the results of our poverty eradication efforts stand the test of time and win the approval of the people. By devoting the majority of our energy to following through with our plans and committing ourselves to doing solid and hard work, we have ensured victory in the fight against poverty. As long as we keep making concrete efforts for the good of our country and our people, we will be able to realize the grand blueprint for building a fully modern socialist country one step at a time. The important knowledge and experience we have gained have shaped China's theory on poverty alleviation. They are the latest achievement in adapting Marxist theory on poverty to the Chinese context, and a valuable resource that must therefore be preserved and developed over the long term.