An aerial drone photo taken on July 24, 2021 shows a view of a relocation site for poverty alleviation in Huawu village of Xinren Miao township, Qianxi city, Southwest China's Guizhou province. [Photo/Xinhua]
China has achieved a landmark development milestone by ending absolute poverty over the past decades and lifting approximately 800 million people out of destitution — a figure representing roughly 75 percent of global poverty reduction targets agreed upon at the United Nations. The scale and speed of this transformation are unprecedented in history.
The significance is both practical and symbolic. It shows that a large, populous nation can eliminate extreme poverty through sustained, systematic policy rather than exceptional circumstances. For the Global South — where over 80 percent of the world's population lives and where poverty reduction remains a core development imperative — China's experience is a powerful and instructive reference point.
China's achievement did not stem from a single intervention but from a coherent, mutually reinforcing set of policies. Within the overarching framework of reform and opening-up, the strategy combined high economic growth with targeted rural intervention, inclusive development principles, agricultural modernization and sustained productivity gains. These elements worked in concert: Broad growth raised average living standards, while targeted measures ensured that the most marginalized populations were not left behind.
