China's poverty relief fund shifted to rural revitalization

Farmers carry baskets of navel oranges in an orchard in Huichang, Jiangxi province, in 2019. [Photo by Chen Zebing/China Daily]

The Chinese government shifted a special poverty-alleviation fund into a subsidy fund for promoting the rural revitalization strategy, to maintain stable financial support in the development of rural areas and prevent a return to poverty, according to the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday.

The central government arranged 156.1 billion yuan for the fund in the budget this year, up by 10 billion yuan from 2020, the ministry said in a statement published on its website.

The Ministry of Finance also issued a document to regulate the fund management work. It said during the transitional period, from "poverty alleviation" to "rural revitalization", the authorities will maintain the overall stability of the financial support policy, and ensure that the management relationship remains unchanged, without easing investment intensity or supervision on the fund's usage.

The fund will be mainly used for supporting industries with distinctive local features and advantages in underdeveloped regions, and the fund injection will be increased year by year. It will also support the poverty monitoring and assistance mechanisms, poor people's relocation projects, and increase the employment income of the poverty-stricken labor force, the ministry said.

The statement also urged that the fund shall not be used for expenditures that are not related to the promotion of rural revitalization in underdeveloped areas. The repayment of debts for relocation projects shall be implemented in accordance with relevant regulations, it stressed.