Up from poverty

The message we get from the idea of raising the country's poverty line from the current 637 yuan ($91) to 1,300 yuan ($186) is that the policymakers' understanding of poverty is undergoing a change, and so is the concept of poverty alleviation.

The population under the poverty line will double from the current 40 million to 80 million if the benchmark is raised to the annual income of 1,300 yuan. But the definition of poverty alleviation has been extended from enabling the people to have enough to eat and wear to taking into consideration their expenses for education and healthcare.

It goes without saying that the idea, a draft for which is being prepared by the State Council office of poverty alleviation, is a manifestation of the people-first governing concept that the new leadership is advocating.