China's poverty alleviation secures disadvantaged groups' rights of subsistence, development: white paper

BEIJING -- China prioritizes the basic rights of subsistence and development of the disadvantaged groups among women, children, the elderly, and the disabled while fighting poverty, said a white paper issued Tuesday.

The nation has enacted favorable policies and provided more assistance to raise the welfare level of these groups, according to the white paper titled "Poverty Alleviation: China's Experience and Contribution." The following are some highlights of China's efforts for this purpose included in the white paper.

-- China adheres to the fundamental national policy of gender equality, and sees women as a key target in poverty alleviation. Among nearly 100 million who have shaken off poverty, women account for half.

-- Small-sum guaranteed loans and micro credit amounting to more than 450 billion yuan have been provided to impoverished women, which have helped 8.7 million women to start businesses and increase their incomes.

-- China has assisted 192,000 women who suffer from poverty and diseases and launched a program of free cervical and breast cancer checkups to cover all women in poverty-stricken areas.

-- Some 4.17 billion yuan has been invested in titled campaigns to provide 50 million impoverished mothers in impoverished areas with infrastructure and health benefits, as well daily necessities.

-- Following the implementation of nutritional improvement projects for children in impoverished areas, children in these regions now enjoy better health. The government gives a free daily pack of nutritional dietary supplements to every baby and toddler aged 6-24 months in contiguous destitute areas. By the end of 2020, a total of 11.2 million children in those areas had benefitted from this project.

-- China has invested 1.7 billion yuan in the Tomorrow Plan for Rehabilitation of Handicapped Orphans to offer operations and rehabilitation to 223,000 orphans with disabilities.

-- Some 540 million yuan from the public welfare has been used to carry out a program to support school education for 54,000 orphans. A support system for de facto orphans has been established in China to cover 253,000 such children.

-- The subsidy system for the poor population of advanced age and incapacitated seniors has been put into place, benefiting 36.89 million people.

-- More than 7 million poor people with disabilities have been lifted out of poverty as scheduled. This is a historic achievement in poverty reduction among groups with special difficulties.

-- The systems for providing living allowances for poor people with disabilities and nursing subsidies for severely disabled persons cover more than 24 million people. China includes 10.67 million people with disabilities in the system of subsistence allowances.

-- Poor people with disabilities are now all covered by basic medical insurance and serious illness insurance. Among them, 547,000 people have received medical assistance.

-- China has made efforts to ensure 1.79 million poor households with one or more disabled members live in secure housing. The special needs of impoverished people with disabilities are being met.

-- More than 80,000 disadvantaged children with disabilities have received generally beneficiary pre-school education.

-- The houses of 653,000 impoverished households with severely disabled members have been upgraded for better accessibility. New progress has been made in nursing care for poor and severely disabled people.