Chinese leaders declare end of rural poverty in nation

China’s ruling Communist Party on Thursday celebrated what it called a “complete victory” over extreme poverty in the country with a ceremony in Beijing, part of larger propaganda campaign efforts to bolster President Xi Jinping’s public image.

According to The Associated Press, the party launched a campaign this month promoting the milestone and Xi’s leadership by publishing reports in state-run newspapers and airwaves. 

The party announced late last year that it had lifted nearly 100 million people out of extreme poverty, with Xi in December calling the achievement a birthday gift for this year’s 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Reuters reported. 

Xi honored key party officials in a ceremony at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on Thursday, presenting medals to those identified as having played a key role in the fight against poverty. 

“The CCP’s leadership and China’s socialist system are the fundamental guarantees against risks, challenges and difficulties,” Xi said in an hourlong speech, according to Reuters. 

The AP noted that a report by the CCP in its newspaper, People’s Daily, this week credited Xi for the “historic leap” over extreme poverty. 

“General Secretary Xi Jinping has stood at the strategic height of building a well-off society in an all-around way and realizing the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,” the newspaper said.

The Chinese government identifies extreme poverty as an annual per capita income of less than 4,000 yuan ($620), or about $1.69 a day at current exchange rates. This is less than the World Bank’s extreme poverty threshold of $1.90 per day.

Reuters noted that the Chinese government on Thursday officially established a National Rural Revitalization Bureau in Beijing to replace its office for poverty alleviation and development office that had operated since 1993. 

According to the AP, a World Bank expert said in a January report from the Brookings Institution that China might be as well off as the U.S. was in the 1960s, but up to 90 percent of China’s people could be considered poor. 

The CCP’s claim of a victory over extreme poverty comes despite the government taking severe measures to shut down the national economy in the early months of the coronavirus pandemic.

As of Thursday, China has had more than 100,000 coronavirus infections, with nearly 5,000 dead as a result of the virus, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.