We must unlock people's potential

One of the greatest obstacles to achieving zero poverty by 2020 is the significant dissimilarities and disparities that characterize the remaining poor areas in China. Apart from similarities such as poor infrastructure, low productivity and lack of information, there are huge differences between these regions in terms of their demographic features, economic structure and social composition. For example, some villages might have a higher proportion of elderly people, resulting in poverty caused by lack of labor. Some villages may have an unbalanced agricultural structure and depend too much on one kind of product, which makes them more vulnerable to poverty in the case of changing climates and markets.

China has contributed significantly to world poverty alleviation targets in the Millennium Development Goals era (2000-15). According to the MDG progress report, China's extreme poverty rate fell to 4 percent last year, from 61 percent in 1990, which is the sharpest decline in the extreme poverty rate worldwide. China also contributed nearly two-thirds of the reduction of the population with malnutrition in developing countries.

Return to poverty, or re-poverty, is a serious concern for all poverty-alleviation activities. In order to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (2015-30), overcoming re-poverty must be front and center of our poverty-alleviation strategy.