Targeted Poverty Alleviation strategy

Targeted Poverty Alleviation (精准扶贫, jīngzhǔn fúpín) is the signature anti-poverty doctrine advanced by Xi Jinping, first articulated during his November 2013 inspection of Shibadong village in Xiangxi, Hunan. It marked a deliberate break from earlier "broad irrigation" (大水漫灌) regional and blanket subsidy approaches, replacing them with "precise drip-irrigation" (精准滴灌) aimed at individually registered poor households. The strategy was codified through the CPC Central Committee and State Council's Decision on Winning the Battle Against Poverty (中共中央国务院关于打赢脱贫攻坚战的决定) of November 2015, which set the binding national target of lifting all rural poor out of poverty and removing all "poverty-stricken counties" (贫困县) from the register by the end of 2020, in step with the goal of building a "moderately prosperous society in all respects" (全面建成小康社会).

Operationally the strategy is built on the principle of "six precisions" (六个精准) — precise targets, precise project arrangement, precise use of funds, precise measures to households, precise dispatch of officials to villages, and precise poverty-alleviation outcomes — supplemented by the "five batches" (五个一批) of pathways: development of production, relocation of populations from inhospitable areas (易地搬迁), ecological compensation, education, and social security backstopping (兜底). Implementation relied on a nationwide household registration and "filing and card-keeping" (建档立卡) system that identified the poor against the official rural poverty line, the dispatch of resident work teams and "first secretaries" (第一书记) to villages, and a "military pledge" (军令状) accountability mechanism through which provincial Party secretaries and governors signed responsibility letters. Paired assistance (对口帮扶) linked wealthier eastern provinces and state enterprises to designated poor regions.

By the official assessment announced on 25 February 2021, China declared "complete victory" in the battle against poverty, stating that all 832 registered poor counties had been removed from the list and that 98.99 million rural residents had been lifted out of poverty under the contemporary standard since 2012. The policy then transitioned, under the Rural Revitalization Promotion Law (乡村振兴促进法, effective 1 June 2021), into a five-year consolidation period guarding against large-scale return to poverty (防止返贫) and dovetailing poverty work with the broader Rural Revitalization (乡村振兴) strategy. As of 2026 the discourse emphasizes consolidating and expanding outcomes (巩固拓展脱贫攻坚成果) and "common prosperity" (共同富裕).

For the China Shenlun (申论) writing paper, Targeted Poverty Alleviation is a high-frequency theme tied to governance capacity, the "people-centred development philosophy" (以人民为中心), and the modernization of national governance. Candidates are expected to deploy the precise terminology — 精准扶贫, 六个精准, 五个一批, 建档立卡 — and to frame argumentative essays around problem-identification accuracy, official accountability, and the shift from poverty relief to rural revitalization. Typical question angles ask for policy summaries, official-document-style proposals (公文写作), or essays linking the strategy to Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. Demonstrating the dated milestones (2013 origin, 2015 Decision, 2021 victory) signals command expected of serious Guokao candidates.