[China] targets rural poverty

from United Press International

BEIJING, April 18 (UPI) -- The Chinese cabinet department dealing with poverty reduction has set two goals for the current five-year plan, state-run media said Tuesday.

Liu Jian, director of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, said the government will ensure adequate food and clothing for 23.65 million people and complete poverty relief programs in 148,000 villages during the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10).

Liu made the statement at a session of the fifth China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation (CFPA) council meeting in Beijing on April 16. He added the CPFA plans to launch a series of poverty reduction measures as well as strengthen volunteer organizations in villages nationwide.

Analysts note the Communist government remains wary of non-governmental organizations operating outside its control. However earlier this year the World Bank sponsored an event involving 100 NGOs from across the country in a bid to demonstrate the value of issue-specific grassroots groups in solving local problems.

One key issue is control of funding sources. Xinhua reported the CFPA raised $22.75 million of funds and materials, with a total of $20.625 million going into relief programs, benefiting 493,300 poverty-stricken people.

Meanwhile, officials are warning the rural-urban income gap is predicted to widen in 2006 because of slower growth rates in the countryside.

On Monday Ma Xiaohe, deputy director of the Academy of Macroeconomic Research with the State Development and Reform Commission, blamed low migrant worker wages and low prices for agricultural produce for increasing disparities.

The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences says the per capita income in rural areas will reach $415 in 2006, an increase of more than 5 percent over last year, but slower than the 6.2 percent increase in 2005.