China should implement strong and effective socioeconomic policies to eradicate the root cause for poverty. This was the message delivered by Yang Yanyin, Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, at the First International Forum on Anti-Poverty in Urban China, co-sponsored by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

This was the first mention of the term "urban poor" by high-ranking Chinese officials in public. The latest civil affairs statistics show that by November 2002, 19.98 million of the country's 320 million non-agricultural population were living in dire poverty, a far cry from the 14 million previously estimated by experts. These people are defined as the urban poor and are the targets of the minimum subsistence welfare system.

Launched in October 1999, the system is designed to provide a minimum subsistence guarantee for urban residents who have no source of income, work capability or legal supporter. In 2002 alone, a total of nearly RMB10.5 billion was invested in the scheme, a record high.

A recent survey of 10,000 households in 100 cities also shows that over 60% of those living on government assistance received a monthly payment of less than RMB100, about 30% between RMB101-200 and only 8.4% more than RMB200. The average monthly payment for all households surveyed was RMB61.

Conducted during September 23 and October 23, 2002, the survey indicates that 28.7% of relief recipients viewed employment as their greatest problem, 25.9% thought medical expenses are prohibitive, and 17.3% saw education of children as a heavy burden on the household. In addition, 12.8% of the households surveyed had a per capita floorspace of less than five square meters, and 33.7% had a family member with a disability.

Nationwide, 40% of those relying on government assistance can not get the money on a monthly basis. About 20% get it twice a year, and nearly 10% do not receive the full amount, according to Dr. Hong Dayong, who conducted the survey and is the deputy director of the Department of Sociology, People's University of China. These figures have been verified by the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

According to Dr. Hong, the survey found that the actual amount of money received by these people is less than what they are supposed to get; a balance of RMB36 per person per month remains uncollected. Nationwide, the balance amounts to nearly RMB700 million.

Dr. Hong attributes this gap to three possible causes. First, some local governments may have filed false reports of the budget at the beginning of the year. Second, the coverage of the system has greatly changed and many able-bodied people without jobs or with difficulties in daily life may have been included in the scheme. Third, local governments may have defaulted on payments.

Wang Zhenyao, Director General of the Department of Disaster Relief and Welfare, confirmed the existence of the huge gap, saying that even if the central government and local governments invested a total of RMB10.5 billion in the scheme in 2002, there was still a RMB2-3 billion gap if the funds were to be distributed in the full amount.

In 2003, about RMB20 billion will be needed for the scheme, RMB9 billion of which will be provided by the central government. The balance will be the responsibility of local governments, according to Wang.

In order to raise the funds and identify the real size of this group of people, local governments have made every possible effort. The Xigang District of Dalian City, Liaoning Province launched a project on an experimental basis. Under the project, able-bodied people relying on government assistance are organized to participate in community service activities on regular basis. Those who are always absent are automatically removed from the list. This project not only helps to enhance their awareness of participation in community activities but also trains them in various skills. An additional benefit is that those people with latent incomes will be eliminated from the group. Since its inception, the project has expanded to cover more than 60,000 relief recipients in the city.

While this project was hailed by some experts as a great accomplishment, Lin Yifu, a renowned economist and director of the China Economic Research Center, Beijing University, however, commented to the contrary. He suggested that the coverage of the scheme should shrink to cover only a small number of people. Over-emphasis on social relief will help nurture a group of idle people, he said, stressing the importance of eradicating poverty through economic development rather than social relief.

In this regard, Wang agreed that theoretically Lin's view has some merit, but at the same time Wang emphasized the importance of social assistance. "A monthly payment of RMB61 doesn't help much given the huge expenses of health care, employment and education," Wang commented, reiterating the importance of establishing a scientific relief system with Chinese characteristics.
(Source: 21st Century Global Herald, December 24, 2002) ??

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Still, the number is large and many cases fatal. The ministry recently revealed a count of more than 2.3 million cases of various infectious diseases, which killed 4,503 people.

The growing pace of reported HIV cases also slowed sharply. Last year, 9,824 HIV carriers were reported to the ministry, 19.5% more than in 2001 but much lower than the increase of 58% between 2000 and 2001. HIV killed 363 people last year.

The State Council has issued a long-term plan for HIV/AIDS control from 1998 to 2010 that includes a series of preventative measures such as ensuring the safety of medical blood supplies, and fighting drug abuse and prostitution.

Since 2001, the central government has increased the special budget for HIV/AIDS prevention and control from RMB15 million (US$1.8 million) to RMB100 million (US$12 million).

In 2002, the top eight infectious diseases in terms of the number of cases were viral hepatitis, tuberculosis, diarrhoea, gonorrhoea, measles, typhoid fever, epidemic haemorrhage and scarlatina.

Rabies ranked the most virulent of all infectious diseases, with 996 deaths last year and a death rate of 89.3%.

For the past three years, there have been more cases of contagious diseases from blood transfusion and sexual contact than cases of contagious diseases from enteropathy.

By the end of 2002, a total of 40,560 HIV/AIDS victims, including 2,639 AIDS patients, were reported to the ministry, an increase of 32% from 2001.

Drug abuse resulted in the infection of 25,828 HIV carriers -- 63.7% of the total number of HIV carriers. Other major causes were sexual contact and blood transfusions.

Recently, the State Drug Administration approved the first domestically produced anti-HIV/AIDS medicine for experimental clinic use.

China has also established a "green" channel for anti-HIV/AIDS drugs to be imported to China. Foreign HIV/AIDS medicines can now be imported duty free.

In another development, the central government decided to bring the hepatitis B vaccine into the State's routine immunity plan, aiming to inoculate all newborns with the vaccine.

About 10% of China's 1.3 billion population is infected with the virus, 25% of them likely to develop chronic hepatitis.
(Source: China Daily, February 22, 2003)