The Fifth Plenary Session of the 18th Communist Party of China Central Committee, held last week, has advanced the goal of building a moderately well-off all-round society by 2020. In the field of poverty alleviation, the central leadership has demanded that all poverty-stricken counties should have rid themselves of the label of being impoverished by the end of 2020.

There are 592 impoverished counties in China; all of them located in the central and western regions.

Once a county is appraised as meeting the criteria for being an impoverished one, authorities at all levels will provide favorable policies, resources and funds for its development. But in recent years, some counties that have already made great economic progress still wear the hat of being an impoverished county in order to continue receiving support. And there are even scandals that local counties compete to acquire the label of being an impoverished county.

The goal of removing the label of being an impoverished county by 2020 poses great challenges to local authorities. It requires that local officials make real efforts to help local people escape from poverty, rather than cling to the favorable policies and funds that the label of being an impoverished county may bring.

(China Daily 11/13/2015 page8)