The picturesque Shibadong Village

Deep in the Wuling Mountains in northwestern of Central China's Hunan Province lies many beautiful and unique villages of Tujia and Miao ethnic groups. Featuring Wuyuan-style rural architecture, terraced farmland and boundless green fields, these villages are truly a feast for the eyes. Shibadong is an epitome of them. Once poverty-stricken, Shibadong is now known for its success in shaking off poverty. Guided by the concept of "targeted poverty alleviation" by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, this once impoverished remote village has realized moderate prosperity with a beautiful environment and better-off life for the people.

General Secretary Xi Jinping with local officials and villagers of Shibadong on the afternoon of November 3, 2013

In 2013, General Secretary Xi Jinping visited Shibadong, during which he put forward the important notion of "targeted poverty alleviation" for the first time. "In fighting poverty, we must avoid paying only lip service or setting unrealistic goals. Instead, we should follow a reality-based, case-by-case, category-specific and targeted approach." Putting this notion into practice, Shibadong actively explored a new model of targeted poverty alleviation which could be applied elsewhere. It developed industries by harnessing local natural resources and adopted poverty alleviation measures tailored to each household. Bearing in mind the words of General Secretary Xi, the local Party branch led the villagers in overcoming perennial poverty, completely transforming the lives of the villagers and the face of the village. Per capita net income rose to 18,369 yuan ($2,845）in 2020 from only 1,668 yuan in 2013. The whole village has graduated out of poverty, and is now making great strides on the path of rural revitalization. Shibadong serves as a fine example of targeted poverty alleviation campaign in China.

China's success in poverty reduction has drawn attention from the rest of the world. During General Secretary Xi's visit to Laos in November 2017, he had a tete-a-tete with General Secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party Central Committee and Lao President Bounnhang Vorachith.

Bounnhang commented that Laos has good natural endowment, but its agriculture is held back by a lack of capital and technology.

Xi replied that the agricultural sector can be a key area of bilateral cooperation. China can not only help Laos make good use of its natural strengths, but also help more people rise above poverty.

Bounnhang visiting Shibadong

In June 2018, Bounnhang paid a visit to Shibadong Village. The Lao leader and his party were impressed by the peaceful and prosperous village life in the green mountains. Bounnhang interacted with the villagers and county- and village-level officials of the Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture about the villagers' life and their livelihood. He said he was happy to hear Shibadong's tremendous changes in a short period of time and its success in ending poverty by acting upon General Secretary Xi's idea of targeted poverty alleviation. China's approach to make Party secretaries at five levels, namely the village, town, county, municipal (prefecture), and provincial levels, fully undertake their poverty-alleviation responsibilities to ensure thorough implementation gave him much food for thought. There were still many poor people and households in Laos, and the poverty alleviation experience and practice of Shibadong is worth learning. Laos and China are good neighbors, good friends, good comrades and good partners: the two Parties and countries have always worked side by side and supported each other in times of need. We should learn from and help each other to achieve common development.

General Secretary of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party Central Committee and Lao President Bounnhang Vorachith’s reply letter to Shibadong villagers

During the Songkran Festival of Laos (Lao New Year) in April 2019, Shibadong villagers wrote a letter to Bounnhang, updating him about development in the village over the past year and sent their new year greetings. Bounnhang wrote back to the villagers soon after. He recalled the warm hospitality he and his delegation received and noted that the success of Shibadong provides valuable experience for Laos in its effort to reduce poverty and graduate from under-development.

The approach of "targeted poverty alleviation," reflecting Chinese wisdom, has won international recognition. On December 20, 2018, under China's initiative, the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution entitled "Eradicating Rural Poverty to Implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development" co-sponsored by G77 and China. Concepts such as "targeted poverty alleviation," "cooperation for the benefit of all," and "building a community with a shared future for mankind" advocated by General Secretary Xi Jinping were written into the resolution, offering China's solution for eliminating rural poverty around the world.

National Poverty Alleviation Summary and Commendation Conference held at the Great Hall of the People on February 25, 2021

At the National Poverty Alleviation Summary and Commendation Conference on February 25, 2021, General Secretary Xi Jinping declared that "China, at the important moment of the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, has won an all-round victory in the fight against poverty with the joint efforts of the whole Party and people of all ethnic groups. All the 98.99 million rural people living under the current poverty line have been lifted out of poverty and all the 832 poverty-stricken counties and 128,000 poor villages have graduated from poverty." "This is another great miracle in history!" At the conference, Shibadong Village was awarded the National Role Model in Poverty Alleviation.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres noted that China's accomplishment is a significant contribution to realizing a better and more prosperous world as envisioned by the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. China's extraordinary achievement brings hope and provides inspiration to the entire international community.

China's contribution to humanity's fight against poverty provides courage, experience and strength for more people on this planet as they strive to shake off absolute poverty. What has happened in China fully demonstrates that poverty is neither predestined nor invincible, the rights to subsistence and development are primary human rights, and the cause of poverty reduction is a noble pursuit that requires concrete action. Standing at a new starting point, China will share its secret of success in poverty eradication with the rest of the world without reservation, and continue to work with other countries for the noble cause of peace and development.