China’s poverty line is not as stingy as commentators think
Nor is China as poor as Li Keqiang implies
SINCE 2017 China’s government has described fighting poverty as one of three “tough” or “critical” battles (alongside quelling pollution and financial risk). Despite the covid-19 pandemic, it still seems confident of victory this year. In March Xi Jinping, the president, pointed out that the number of rural poor fell to 5.51m in 2019. That is only 0.4% of China’s vast population. Regional overall poverty, he said, had been basically eradicated.
This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Clarifying the battle lines”
Finance & economics June 20th 2020
- The Fed has been supporting markets. Now it must find ways to boost growth
- The successes of the Fed’s dollar-swap lines
- China’s poverty line is not as stingy as commentators think
- The euro area’s stimulus is less stingy than in past crises
- The economics of reparations
- To understand the new wave of small investors, look to China
- As the virus rages on shore, merchant seamen are stranded on board
- New research casts light on the pandemic’s effects on resource allocation
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