china steps up war on poverty, though some still left behind - solar powered street lights1

Elias Glenn and Natalie Thomas Beijing (Reuters)-
The 59-year-old Wang Qin collects waste products in a demolished residential area on the outskirts of Beijing and works 15 hours a day, paying for his granddaughter's education alone.
She is concerned about her own home, an illegally built shed, living with her granddaughter and her mentally ill husband, and may also be leveled by local authorities.
1,500 yuan living at home ($228)
Wang sold waste products for a month without the help of the Beijing government.
As immigrants from another province, although they have lived there since 2014, they are not considered residents of the capital.
Since she is not registered in Beijing, Ms. Wang has to pay more for things like school and health care --
The difficulty of urban immigration, where housing and other costs are also much higher than in rural areas.
"You still need to live every month, and I still need to pay tuition for the child and pay for her food and drinks every day," Wang said . " She came to Beijing to try to get rid of poverty in her village in central China's Henan province.
"I can't accept it. I'm sore all over. I can't make any money.
"Wang's plight is common among China's big cities and millions of poor migrants from rural areas, highlighting the challenges faced by the government's campaign to eliminate extreme poverty by 2020.
President Xi Jinping promised in 2015 that China would lift 70 million people living in poverty out of poverty by 2020, making it one of his signature policy issues.
The movement has gradually escalated to the Communist party's preparations once and twice. a-
Ten-year leadership meeting on Wednesday.
"The country has made unprecedented efforts in poverty alleviation," said Liu Yongfu, leader of the government's leading group for poverty alleviation and development, at a press conference in Beijing on Tuesday.
"President Xi Jinping personally directed and visited all the poverty-stricken areas in China ".
He added: "With the active participation of all sectors of society, it can be said that the battle against poverty has achieved remarkable results.
When asked by Reuters about people like the Scavenger King, Liu said immigrants can get benefits in their hometown and noted that urban residents are covered by urban social security programs.
According to the Ministry of Finance, Beijing pledged to spend 86 billion yuan this year on poverty alleviation, an increase of 30% over last year.
Liu said that from 2013 to 2017, the central and local governments spent a total of 461 on poverty alleviation.
2 billion yuan, other types of government spending have also had an impact.
These funds are used for infrastructure projects, as well as subsidies for education, medical care and rural agriculture.
The government's poverty line is income of 2,300 yuan per year, which is 43 by the end of 2016.
There are still 35 million people under official statistics.
The government's goal is to lift 10 million people out of poverty this year, and at that rate, by 2020, the country should at least officially get rid of severe poverty.
It is believed that the programme has increased attention to rural areas and improved rural infrastructure.
World Bank chief Jim yong Kim said on Thursday that China's achievements in helping 0. 8 billion people get rid of poverty since 1990 are "one of the great stories of human history ".
But many researchers and social workers said the campaign did not address the most serious problems facing the poor in China.
"I personally don't really agree with the 2020 poverty alleviation target set by the government," said Yang Lixiong, a professor at Renmin University of Beijing who studied the issue.
"Supportive policies can alleviate poverty in the short term, but in the long term
In the long run, they can easily fall into poverty.
If government support is lifted, as many as half of the poor in some parts of the West will slip back below the poverty line, Yang said.
Yang said that people are talking about long-
Semester issues such as entrance and health care.
"Poverty can only be reduced for a long time.
"You can't say that poverty has been eliminated and it is impossible to eliminate it," Yang said . ".
Central government officials acknowledge the challenges they face, which they say include poor policy implementation and abuse of local funds.
They also said that in order to address the most pressing problems of the poorest rural residents, the programme was narrowly focused, but they insisted that a lot of efforts were being made to improve health care and education.
"First of all, we need to win this fight and solve the current problems," Liu said . " He answered Reuters's question about whether the project will continue to exceed 2020.
Wu Chen, founder of Beijing
The Social Resources Institute, which is based in dalinggou, Hebei province, said the development of rural areas is facing challenges, such as people moving to cities to find jobs, rural areas being emptied, environmental damage and lack of funds.
The ditch is full of slogans calling on the village to win the battle against poverty.
With this in mind, the local government has built a new road to the village, with solar energy installed last month-
Electric street lights.
Wu Bangguo said that rural infrastructure has been greatly improved, but the information and cultural gap between rural poor and urban residents remains a major challenge.
"Can these villagers not only get rid of poverty in terms of income, but also get rid of poverty in terms of information and ability? "($1 = 6.
RMB 5785)(
Reports from Elias Glen and Natalie Thomas;
Editor Philip McClellan)