Looking beyond the 2020 goal

China has vowed to build a moderately well-off society by 2020, and as that year draws near, it is fair to say that goal has been largely accomplished in most parts of the country. But it is always the shortest board of a bucket that decides how much water it can hold.

In this sense, the importance of the fourth session of the Central Financial and Economic Committee late last month - though less eye-catching than some larger scale ones - should not be underestimated. Presided over by President Xi Jinping and attended by top Party and government officials, the meeting not only highlighted the most prominent "short board" of China's development today - by the end of last year there were still 16.6 million people living in abject poverty in rural areas - but also prescribed how to complete the last part of this long endeavor.

Given that more than 10 million people have been lifted out of poverty each year since 2012, it would seem that it should not be a problem to help the remaining impoverished population shake off poverty within the next two years. That might be the case based on the numbers alone, but the remaining impoverished households are scattered across remote mountain areas, and their poverty is caused by multiple factors, which means it requires not only more financial inputs but also more customized approaches to solve their problems.