Chinese Definition of Poverty

The central government of China only defines the national rural poverty line, whereas urban poverty lines are determined by cities, without a national standard. The poverty line is the standard for poverty alleviation in China. On November 29, 2011, the development-oriented Poverty Reduction Working Meeting convened by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China announced that the 2011 national poverty line was set at 2,300 yuan of the annual per capita net income of a rural household. According to this new standard, there were 128 million poor rural residents, who constituted 13.4 percent of rural registered residents by the end of 2011 in China. The 2011 poverty line increased by 92 percent, compared to the standard set in 2009 (1,196 yuan). In 1985, ...