Even COVID-19 can't derail China's quest to end extreme poverty, says a former Japanese prime minister confident on year-end goal

Editor's note: As China aims to eliminate extreme poverty and be a "moderately prosperous society" (xiaokang shehui) in time for the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China next year, we talk to leading experts for their take on the country's commitment.

As economies worldwide attempt to balance protecting public health with the need to get back to normal business, Yukio Hatoyama, a former Japanese prime minister, is confident that China will achieve its goal of eliminating extreme poverty by the end of this year despite the havoc that COVID-19 has wreaked.

"COVID-19 poses a huge challenge to China, but I am optimistic that it will be able to rise to this challenge," Hatoyama said. "The Chinese economy will recover in the second part of the year."

Hatoyama's confidence is borne out by Chinese exports for July, which rose 7.2 percent in dollar terms compared with July last year, in a sign of resilience despite the fallout of the pandemic worldwide.

In June exports rose 0.5 percent compared with June last year, the economy beginning to improve after a severe contraction in the first two months of the year.

The Caixin/Markit services purchasing managers' index rose to a 10-year high of 58.4 in June, compared with 55 in May and a nadir of 26.5 in February, indicating accelerated recovery as consumer spending rebounds as life gradually returns to normal.

"I think it critical for China to make a new model for the post COVID-19 economy, and I believe you can successfully do that," said Hatoyama, who was Japan's prime minister from September 2009 to June 2010. "The trend for the elimination of extreme poverty remains firm, and the target will be met shortly."

The roots of poverty eradication in China go back to 1979, when Chinese officials were in talks with the Japanese prime minister of the time, Masayoshi Ohira. Former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping referred to xiaokang society, describing it as the goal of China's modernization. Deng had in mind a China that would one day become a country whose people would be moderately well-off, one in which economic prosperity could give most of the population a comfortable living.

In the four decades of reform and opening up since, poverty eradication has always been a centerpiece of the Communist Party of China's policies at all levels, with hundreds of thousands of people and local officials being urged to promote poverty alleviation that is linked with strict, measurable objectives.

In the book Up and Out of Poverty, which is a collection of speeches and articles made by President Xi Jinping more than 30 years ago, when he was Party chief of the city of Ningde of Fujian province, he made poverty eradication a personal mission and gave people some first hints about his idea of how to go about the task. He highlighted four principles: avoiding a poverty mentality (if you believe you are poor, you will be); adopting development measures suitable to local conditions; stressing the importance of strong leadership and coordination; and not wasting money on grandiose projects just because they may be popular.

Point of success

"If you read the first principle 'it's all mental', President Xi's four principles get to the point of succeeding in almost every project," Hatoyama said.

"The real greatness of President Xi is that he has actually executed those principles, proving that he is a man of his word."

In less than a month after Xi took the helm following the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, he put forward his concept of a "Chinese dream" for the "great rejuvenation of the Chinese people".The dream consisted of realizing the "Two Centenary Goals": China becoming a "moderately well-off society "by about 2021, the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party, and China becoming completely developed by about 2049, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

"Eliminating poverty, improving living standards and achieving common prosperity are the basic requirements of socialism and an important mission of the CPC," Xi said.

"Building a moderately prosperous society in all aspects is our fundamental promise to the people."

To achieve these goals, an average of 13 million people have been lifted out of poverty each year and about 775,000 officials have been sent to villages to promote poverty alleviation. Since 2013 government funding for these efforts has risen more than 20 percent a year. As a result, China has made huge advances in relieving poverty, winning plaudits from international organizations including the United Nations and the World Bank for raising 850 million people out of extreme poverty.

"China's success in eradicating absolute poverty in such a short period must be understood as unprecedented," Hatoyama said. "I admire Chinese people for their dedication to the project of poverty eradication."

However, he said, China's efforts are insufficiently acknowledged, particularly in the West.

"It is a pity that relatively few people in the world seem to realize this great achievement," he said. "In the age of globalization, the vast volume of goods, people, money are transacted across borders. But that does not always guarantee real mutual understanding. China should redouble its efforts to make itself understood, and the rest of the world, especially the West, should also try to understand China."

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Western media started to question whether China could still achieve its goal of eradicating extreme deprivation by the end of this year, citing shutdowns and a shrinking economy in the first quarter. To make matters worse, this summer swathes of China were inundated by floods.

Commenting on doubts about whether China could achieve its goal, Premier Li Keqiang said at the end of the National People's Congress in May that the country remained on track to end extreme poverty.

"Before COVID-19 struck, there were about 5 million people living below the poverty line," Li said. "But because of the disease, some may have fallen back into poverty. We hence face a greater task in achieving our goal."