China’s seven-decade fight against poverty is both impressive and significant in its scope and pace, but I wondered if other countries could duplicate China’s success.

“What can the world learn from China’s fight against poverty?” I asked Dr. Huang.

Not surprisingly, Dr. Huang ticked off enough lessons for the world that he could probably single-handedly run a global anti-poverty institute (which, like China’s 500+ Confucius Institutes, could have a very positive influence on bridging the gulf between East and West, North and South).

China Surpasses Global Standards

“In Xi Jinping’s understanding,” Dr. Huang said, “his entire set of concepts and ideas for poverty alleviation has surpassed the current international theoretical system of poverty reduction in many aspects. We can now contribute Chinese solutions and insights to global poverty reduction because the success of our large-scale poverty reduction is mainly guided by thought, strategy and policy system.

“Many foreigners have seen our achievements in poverty reduction, but they often only know a single story and case. We hope they can see how our ruling party and governments care about the poor during the entire process of our country’s governance. China’s new era anti-poverty model can be summarized as “two lines and one force”, Dr. Huang said. The “two lines” are economic development and social safety nets, and the “one force” is the government’s leadership.

But China’s social and political systems are unique. “Can other nations copy China’s practices?” I asked.

“For other nations to emulate China,” Dr. Huang said, “they would do well to follow its example in drafting strategies according to their unique historical and geographical context, and then to focus on comprehensive development such as improving rural infrastructure, education and health, etc. And of course, development must be sustainable, which requires protection of resources and ecological construction.”

Learning from Mistakes: Less Aid, More Enable

The world could learn from both China’s triumphs and mistakes, Dr. Huang said, such as initial over-reliance on simplistic “aid”, which breeds dependency without fostering the self-reliance needed to make anti-poverty programs sustainable.

“To shift from ‘aid’ to ‘enablement’, there must be a focus on increasing the poor’s income by relying on scientific and technological progress, optimizing varieties of crops, improving quality, increasing efficiency, and improving information, technology, and sales services to maximize production and income.”

I was reminded of China’s 4000+ Taobao villages. With improved infrastructure, such innovations could be duplicated in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Dr. Huang also emphasized the importance of agricultural industrialization, which can help provide poor farmers with pre-, mid-, and post-production serial services, and form a one-stop industrialization operation integrating trade, industry and agriculture, production, supply, and sales. I had seen this strategy at work in Ningxia and Western Yunnan, near the border of Tibet.

China has also expanded labor export in poor areas by improving labor skills, setting up an employment information service system, and working to safeguard transferred laborers’ legitimate rights and interests. (I’ve met some of these migrant workers, who went on to establish profitable businesses that lifted their entire home village from poverty).

Vulnerability of Minorities

Minorities are especially vulnerable, as Xi Jinping discovered in the late 1980s when working with the She people in Fujian’s Ningde, one of China’s 18 poorest counties. Minorities have long enjoyed special privileges such as exemption from the one-child policy, but geographical, cultural and linguistic isolation have until recently been insurmountable barriers to development. But a small boost can work wonders. I’ve met many minority students from around China who were accepted to Xiamen University in spite of slightly lower marks on their entrance exams, but they surpassed their more privileged classmates and returned to help build their hometowns.

Regional Inequity

Regional poverty is yet another problem the world over. “China has made great achievements in promoting poverty alleviation and development through stages and regions, on the basis of respecting regional differences and national culture,” Mr. Huang said, “with specific strategies for developing the western region, revitalizing northeast industrial bases and developing the central region.”

China has also learned the importance of international exchange of experience and knowledge and cooperation with institutes such as UNICEF and UNESCO. But increasingly, other nations are looking to China for insights, and Dr. Huang says the most important lesson for any nation is strong leadership.

The No. 1 Lesson Is Leadership

“First off is Party leadership,” Dr. Huang said. “Many foreigners cannot understand China’s Party leadership, but in my opinion, in human development, no matter what political system you follow, the core demand of every politician should be to seek the happiness and welfare of the people. Republicans, Kuomintang, Communists.… These are just different forms. But if a political party is in line with the law of human development and has the people’s support, it must focus the leadership’s attention on eliminating poverty. Any political party that fails to solve the problem of the survival of the poor is not a political party that is in the interest of the people.

“Take our country as an example,” Dr. Huang said. “We have promised to completely eliminate absolute poverty by 2020. If we fail in this goal, other countries will say the Communist Party does not keep its word and is not honest. And China’s people will also feel that the Communist Party is just big talk but does not really represent the interests of our common people…. If a country’s incidence of poverty exceeds 30% and the country cannot resolve it, no one will believe their systems and political parties are advanced. So what system is advanced?”

I did not answer, so Dr. Huang answered for me. “At present, most believe that the capitalist systems of Europe and the U.S. are advanced. The capitalist system represents the direction of the development of advanced productive forces. But it has created and exposed some problems. Of course, we cannot say that these problems are insurmountable, or that they will inevitably lead to the division of society, but at least it can be said that the capitalist system is not a perfect system.

“Of course, we do not expect to say that the United States must recognize China, or say China is good. But we can at least explore ways to form a model, including our Party leadership, that can be used by other developing countries. The same is true for poverty alleviation. Without the Party leadership, poverty alleviation in China is simply impossible.”

“But other nations don’t have China’s system of government,” I said. “Can they still learn from China?”

“Can other countries learn from China? I think so,” Dr. Huang said. “We have a billion people in China and hundreds of millions of poor people, yet we can provide good governance. So would a country with only tens of millions of people, or even a country with only millions of people, fail to govern? As long as they commit to implementing the poverty alleviation plans we have used, they will definitely see benefit.”

Transparency and Constant Reform

Dr. Huang also emphasized that all nations, China included, must engage in constant reform and opening up to promote development of the entire economic and social system, otherwise poor areas will always lag. “And if it is not open and transparent,” he said, “there will be no information exchange. Closed areas and impoverished areas will always lag behind and will never be able to adopt new technologies.”

“So what did you think of the UN secretary-general’s letter praising China’s poverty reduction strategy?” I asked Dr. Huang.

“I think this evaluation is very relevant,” he said. “It reflects the international community’s affirmation and recognition of Xi Jinping’s precision poverty alleviation strategy…. I think General Secretary Xi’s greatness lies in his ability to help solve the global problem of poverty in an easy-to-understand manner. And China’s vibrant practices show the international community that it is indeed possible to undertake a complete set of effective systems for poverty governance.”

Social Mobilization

One thing that sets China apart from other nations is the society’s keenness in undertaking social projects. When I represented Chinese cities in an international competition for livable communities, many leaders from around the world asked me, “How does China get so many volunteers?”

Dr. Huang feels that this social mobilization at all levels, from first secretaries to urban volunteers, is key to China’s anti-poverty programs.

“Social mobilization is indeed a pivotal factor,” Dr. Huang said. “The whole society must be mobilized to help the poor. Many countries in India and Africa have used the methods of European and American countries to help the poor through social organizations. Of course, this method has its advantages. On a small scale, it can be implemented very well, though it has to be conducted in a very careful manner. Its disadvantage is that it is difficult to achieve poverty reduction on a large scale and in a holistic manner, thereby promoting the development of the whole society.

“Only by mobilizing all levels of society, and reminding the rich that their country still has poor people, can poverty be solved. High officials must know what is happening in poor areas. In our country, even the ministers need to know the specific conditions of poor areas. This is social mobilization.

“Eastern and Central China have developed but the western region still faces challenges and needs the help of the eastern regions, or the development of the entire country will be fragmented.”

China Fights Poverty Abroad

“Can other countries mobilize society as China has?” I asked, doubtful.

“They can!” Dr. Huang said. “When I was working at the China International Center for Poverty Alleviation, I did a demonstration village in Tanzania. I introduced to them China’s experiences in poverty reduction. Eventually, they implemented China’s methods across the entire province to help poor villages and drive their development. This shows that whether capitalism or socialism, in many ways governance and management systems are the same. From the perspective of governance, as long as there are higher-level arrangements, the entire society can be mobilized.”

Self-Reliance: When Loess Becomes Gold

But regardless of what kinds of programs, or how well society is mobilized, in the final analysis, “the poor must also be willing to help themselves,” Dr. Huang said. He recalled Xi Jinping’s experiences as a young leader in Ningde, which was a microcosm of poverty reduction across China, and many of the practices Xi implemented in Ningde have now been adopted across the country – especially the emphasis on enablement rather than aid – of “blood production rather than blood transfusion”.

“If ordinary people lack internal motivation,” Dr. Huang said, “it is useless to rely on the idea of ‘waiting for my needs’ to be met. In Ningde, one of Xi’s key emphases was, ‘If you have faith, the loess becomes gold.’ This very important idea shows the pivotal role of inner motivation.”

Dr. Huang also emphasized not just increasing the investment in poverty alleviation but also being sure the money is spent properly. “Since the Second World War, Europe and the United States have dominated global aid, with aid to African alone exceeding USD 2 trillion. With so much invested, why is sub-Saharan Africa still impoverished? The main reason is how the funds have been used. We need to not only expand investment but also improve the structure, as well as the supervision and use of funds.”

Dr. Huang gave China’s micro financing as an example of wise use of funds to help farmers escape poverty. “It cannot be guaranteed that China’s current microfinance is completely successful, but many successful precedents have emerged, indicating that it is universally applicable.”

East-West China, North South Hemisphere

Imbalances in North-South economic development could also benefit from China’s experiences in resolving imbalanced growth between China’s eastern and western regions, Dr. Huang said. In fact, he claimed that, at present, the international community has no effective practices to address this issue. “Developed countries have promised 0.7% of their GDP to the UN for development assistance, but how can we improve effectiveness and make it more comprehensive and win-win for both parties? At present, there are no effective global institutional mechanisms but China has such a mechanism, so its experience is very important for the governance of global development. For example, we are now promoting poverty alleviation by purchasing products such as tea or college students’ food from poor areas. This innovative, pioneering work is possible because of the expansion of investment in impoverished areas.”

Dr. Huang also thinks China has much to tell the world about assessing global poverty issues. “So far, I feel that large-scale international assessments have not been successful, but China’s practice in recent years has been successful. We have explored methods to evaluate the performance of all levels and set a comprehensive series of clear poverty alleviation standards and channels. These practices could also be of use to the international community. Our practices may not be complete, but our experience does show that the Chinese solutions and insights on poverty can contribute to the war on global poverty. But the foundation is leaders with firm ideals and conviction to help the people.”

Three Ways Xi Jinping’s Anti-Poverty Programs Influence the World

“What does Xi Jinping’s example in fighting poverty mean for the world?” I asked Dr. Huang.

“There are three points,” Dr. Huang replied. “From China’s perspective, it is the foundation for building a modern, well-rounded, well-off socialist society, and also the starting point of China’s new journey of socialist modernization. We cannot build a well-off society without first eliminating poverty.

“For the world, China has contributed its solutions and insights to humanity and global poverty reduction. In his keynote speech at the 2015 High-level Forum on Poverty Reduction and Development, held in Beijing on October 16, 2015, Xi Jinping stated that eradicating poverty remains the greatest global challenge facing the world today. We must build consensus, help each other, overcome difficulties, focus on accelerating the global poverty reduction process, strengthen poverty reduction and development cooperation, achieve pluralistic and independent sustainable development, and improve the international development environment. We must work tirelessly to build a community of human destiny without poverty.

“Some people are skeptical,” Dr. Huang admitted, “but this is our vision. We’re not saying that poverty can be completely eliminated in the world, but it does mean that human development should work in this direction. And China’s solutions to fighting poverty can be adopted in other countries to solve their own problems.

“A development path that cannot solve the problem of poverty is definitely not a good path or a good system. China’s solution to the problem of absolute poverty has, to date, been in line with the direction of human development.”

Well aware of foreign skepticism, I asked, “But how do overseas media and think tanks evaluate China’s poverty reduction policies?”

“Many question whether China’s poverty reduction has been driven by overall development or by special poverty alleviation programs, but both had their roles. Economic development is of course needed to fund the fight against poverty, but special poverty reduction policies are also indispensable.”

“Before reform and opening up,” Mr. Huang said, “poverty alleviation policies were all inclusive. Since reform and opening up in 1978, development and poverty reduction have been separated. In other words, both are indispensable. The poverty alleviation of more than 700 million poor people in China is the result of the combined effect of the two forces.”

China also has lessons for the world about the importance of multi-dimensional assessments of poverty.

Dr. Huang said the world had been skeptical of China’s poverty standard, which initially was lower than the World Bank guidelines but was gradually raised until, by 2011, it has actually been slightly higher than the global standard. “If we add our other standards and social security guarantees,” Dr. Huang said, “our levels are actually much higher than international standards. In addition, the United Nations has always questioned the multi-dimensionality of our poverty determination, but now our multi-dimensional standards are recognized globally and this criticism has gradually disappeared.”

Four Factors for Sustainability

Many international experts doubt the sustainability of China’s poverty reduction program, but Dr. Huang says this doubt is weakening thanks to four factors. First, leaders are held clearly accountable so poverty alleviation funds are used as planned. I thought of a first secretary in a remote Yunnan village who told me, “We don’t dare waste a penny!”

Second, “China requires green development; poverty alleviation cannot come at the expense of the environment.” I saw this myself when I drove around China and saw areas that were once desert now covered with meadows and forests.

Third, “China emphasizes not just aid (transfusion) but enablement, because aid alone is not sustainable.” I saw this new spirit of self-sufficiency across the country. As two farmers in different provinces told me, “We have good policies now, but they’re of no use if we don’t do our own part.”

Fourth, “China’s poverty alleviation is sustainable because it is market-oriented, with close interaction between government, market and society.” But this in turn works only because of an entrepreneurial populace that take advantage of the markets—people like Mr. Lin Zhengjia, who had only four years of schooling and didn’t wear shoes until he was a teen but is now one of China’s top experts in tunnels and a philanthropist funding education for thousands of rural children.

“But experience so far has shown us that market-oriented is generally not enough,” Dr. Huang said. “For example, developing many industries requires consideration of short-term and long-term relationships, the problem of local resources and the needs of the entire market, and the fragmentation of small-scale and large-scale standardized market requirements. For poor areas, it is impossible to say all of these issues can be solved in one or two years, but at least we are aware of these issues and paying attention to them in our policies.”

After 2020?

Clearly, China has much to tell the world, but I still had one last question for Dr. Huang. “Xi Jinping said China will end absolute poverty by 2020, but what comes after that?”

“The government just met to discuss this issue,” Dr. Huang said. “The word ‘winning’ shows that comprehensive poverty alleviation has timeliness. Whether it is 2020 or 2021, there must be a clear time, and there can be no endless delay. But what kind of governance model will China provide to the world in 2050? China will definitely continue to battle poverty, and establish a long-term mechanism to solve relative poverty. It is difficult to foresee China’s future path but it will have several elements:

  1. 1.

    We must modernize the country’s governance system and capacity and consider the solution of relative poverty.

  2. 2.

    The governance of relative poverty must have standards such as goals, scope, strategy and systems. We are even now researching how to do this.

  3. 3.

    We must further capitalize upon Xi Jinping’s concept of precision poverty alleviation.

  4. 4.

    Some effective basic experience in solving poverty and developing poverty alleviation formed during the decades since the founding of New China will surely persist and carry forward. For example, the advantages of social mobilization, assistance in the village, precision poverty alleviation and east-west cooperation in poverty alleviation.”

Belt and Road Poverty Alleviation

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) will also benefit from China’s experience. Dr. Huang said, “Adding elements of poverty reduction during the Belt and Road cooperation process is part of our country’s foreign aid and diplomacy. All foreign development assistance programs related to the BRI must incorporate poverty reduction elements, with a focus on improving people’s living standard. Over the past 17 years, China has invested 100 million Yuan in Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar on community poverty reduction projects.

“We are also looking at integrating all aspects of poverty development in some other countries and making sure that poverty reduction there is more sustainable. But this is a new field for us; there are still many problems. For example, many domestic social organizations are still in the early stage of development and have many imperfections and challenges. Cultivating entrepreneurs in other countries is also problematic. But in fact, the most important thing is that when enterprises go global, they go global with ideas that are within the context of other nations’ laws, culture, and customs. If there is no legal awareness, it is hard to implement abroad what may have worked well at home. Lack of cultural awareness can also create problems abroad. Poverty alleviation must have cultural and social integration to be sustainable.”

If solving poverty at home has been challenging, tackling it abroad seems even more overwhelming. But Dr. Huang said, “I am still full of confidence. By 2050, if our country does not make serious mistakes in the development process, then many countries will learn from China’s development model.”

Dr. Huang’s enthusiasm was contagious; I share his confidence. In spite of seemingly endless challenges and setbacks, the nation has for 70 years pursued its ideal of a moderately prosperous society without poverty. And even though China has accomplished more than any other nation in alleviating poverty, it is not resting on its laurels but continuing to learn and advance and, most importantly to me, sharing its experience with other nations.

I look forward to interviewing Dr. Huang again in 2050!

Supplement: Twenty-First Century Barefoot Doctors for the World

Some 300 years ago, Westerners believed that China’s “Art of Government” was an even greater accomplishment than its four great inventions. In the 1800s, Britain was first in the West to adapt China’s ancient imperial exam to hire civil servants based on ability instead of relationships or hereditary privilege, and in 2013, BBC claimed China’s meritocratic system was the basis for all modern recruiting.

That was Old China, of course—but New China, with only 70 years under its belt, has even more to teach us—especially the lessons from such anti-poverty programs as barefoot doctors—the world’s first attempt at truly universal healthcare.

In the Harvard Public Health magazine’s Fall 2018 issue, Chi-Man (Winnie) Yip, professor of the Practice of Global Health Policy and Economics of the Harvard T.H. Chan’s School of Public Health, shared her vision of “21st-Century Barefoot Doctors”.

“Fifty years ago, during the Cultural Revolution in China, a cadre of ‘barefoot doctors’ – some 1.5 million peasants who received intensive three- to six-month training in anatomy, bacteriology, birth control, maternal and infant care, and other topics – were dispatched to provide basic healthcare for their rural communities. Even in the midst of the revolution’s social upheaval, this low-tech medical corps (named for the fact that many worked in their own rice paddy fields when they weren’t tending to their neighbors) was highly successful, significantly reducing infectious disease and boosting life expectancy.

“In the 1980s, with market reform, the barefoot doctor system came to an end. But the program served as a model and inspiration for the famous 1978 Alma-Ata Declaration on primary healthcare. Chi-Man (Winnie) Yip, professor of the practice of global health policy and economics, believes the program continues to hold lessons for today.

“The barefoot doctor program was a low-cost strategy that achieved high health outcomes. Its core principle was to keep people healthy. And the program reached everybody – it was universal healthcare in its very core. Just as impressive, barefoot doctors were part of the community, understood the community, cared about the community, and were trusted by the community.

“Today, many low- and middle-income nations are trying to build strong primary care systems that provide health promotion, disease prevention, accurate diagnosis, effective treatment, timely referral, and management of non-communicable diseases – such as hypertension, diabetes, even some cancers and mental health problems. Unfortunately, lack of highly trained staff is a major bottleneck in building such systems.

“My idea of a 21st-century barefoot doctor is someone with two to three years of training post-junior high school, who will be enabled with artificial intelligence and big-data-assisted decision support. Apps or web-based tools will use data analytics to prompt the doctors to ask the right questions, supply the likelihood of various diagnoses, and recommend treatment. It’s an algorithm decision tree, but supported by big-data analysis.

“Twenty-first-century barefoot doctors will be most suitable in areas that are remote and rural and have older people left behind in the global wave of migration to cities. These doctors will need to be respected as the foundation of the healthcare system. They will also need to earn a decent income – although income alone is not what will keep them in their jobs. If 21st-century barefoot doctors become a reality, it could transform today’s treatment-centric healthcare systems into systems that keep people healthy and at scale.”