The Legal Logic in the Practice of Poverty Reduction in Rural China in the One Hundred Years Since the Founding of the Communist Party of China

Zhang Lizhe and Ren Siqi

Sichuan Provincial Committee Party School of the Communist Party of China

Abstract: Three major poverty reduction models have successively been adopted in the poverty control led by the Communist Party of China (CPC), namely reliefbased poverty alleviation, which focused on adjusting the production factors of land, development-driven poverty alleviation, and targeted poverty alleviation. In the process, the target of finding a rational position for the principal function of poverty alleviation has been gradually realized: the approach of poverty alleviation has gradually adjusted from micro to macro, from direct to indirect; while the management has transformed from mobilization-based to rule-of-law based. Rules that link policies and laws, as well as a rule-of-law model of the poverty reduction of a developing country that is led by party committees and governments, has been formed, and an illustrative sample of poverty control has been created, which provides experience based knowledge to the antipoverty practices in developing countries. In the future, it is necessary to further realize the protection of the rights of the people in comparative poverty and the proceduralization of poverty reduction administrative behaviors, as well as to formulate a unified “Poverty Reduction Law” when the time is ripe, to protect the rights of the people in comparative poverty in the post-poverty-alleviation era.

Keywords: poverty control, leadership of the Communist Party of China, rule of law

On July 1, 2021, at the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC, General Secretary Xi Jinping declared that China has built a moderately prosperous society in all respects and brought about a historic resolution to the problem of extreme poverty in China” (Xi, 2021). This means that China has reached the first sustainable development goal in the United Nations’ “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” ten years ahead of schedule. In the one hundred years of poverty reduction history under the leadership of the CPC, a series of institutional systems and methods have been formed around the allocation of land resources, resource development, and targeted poverty alleviation in rural China (Li, 2020), important related issues concerning the targets, the subjects, methods, and supervision have been solved while the establishment of a scientific, institutional, and rule-of-law system of poverty reduction has been promoted. In the past century since the founding of the CPC, the poverty reduction system in rural China is an important achievement of the localization of Marxism in China. It has secured the people’s right to life, development, and equality. The process can be divided into three stages, namely “focusing on the production factor of land,” “focusing on development and empowerment,” and “focusing on precise identification, assistance, and management.” A poverty governance mode that is based on the leadership of the CPC, led by the government, and takes targeted poverty alleviation as the major method has been formed while an illustrative sample of poverty reduction has been completed in China through practice. This study focuses on the results achieved through the development of the rule of law concerning the construction of consistent institutional norms in the rural poverty reduction led by the CPC since its founding, especially after the 18th National Congress of the CPC, and how the poverty reduction in China can continue to advance through the rule of law in order to consolidate existing achievements.

The Theoretical Basis and Ideological References for the Practice of the Rule of Law in Rural Poverty Reduction Led by the Communist Party of China

The ideals of the CPC in leading the practice of the rule of law in rural poverty reduction have always taken the poverty reduction thoughts in the Marxist political economy as the theoretical foundation for poverty reduction efforts. The Marxist thoughts concerning the poverty reduction of the western world have been refined to select the useful and neglect the useless, and have been integrated with the poverty reduction ideals in the traditional cultural concepts of ancient China so that poverty reduction ideals with Chinese characteristics could be created and the development of the poverty reduction theories of Marxism could be realized.

Poverty Reduction Ideas in Marxist Political-Economic Theory

Karl Marx proposed an anti-poverty path based on his criticism of the poverty problems in capitalist societies. Marx analyzed the “general law of capitalist accumulation” inDas Kapital, in which he focused on the theory of surplus value, to reveal the secrets of capitalist exploitation and the essence of the pauperization of the proletariat. He held that “such kind of advances in the production means of capitalism, like all its other historical advances, were achieved at the cost of the complete pauperization of the direct producers.” Citing extensive information, Marx explained a basic tendency of capitalist production, which is to develop surplus labor without limit. He pointed out that the root and essence of working-class poverty is the loss of the means of production while capitalist private ownership is the institutional root cause of working-class poverty. He also explained the law of history that capitalism would inevitably be replaced by socialism and communism. The Marxist political economic theory holds that institutional change is the primary way to eliminate the problem of poverty. With highly developed productivity and the full flow of material wealth, poverty will inevitably be eliminated. With highly developed productivity and a full surge of material wealth, poverty will definitely be eliminated. This idea provides methodological guidance and guides to action for the proletariat to fight poverty. However, the difference in social production means and productivity development levels determine that the anti-poverty concepts in different historical periods have characteristics from the times they are in. This also determines that the poverty problems in a socialist society are essentially different from those during the capitalist era in which Marx lived. In the practice of poverty control, the CPC has recognized that the root cause of widespread poverty in a socialist society lies in the underdevelopment of productivity in the primary stage of socialism, which is fundamentally different from poverty under the capitalist system. The CPC’s cognition and innovation on poverty control have further enriched the theoretical system of Marxist political economics. Under the guidance of the Marxist anti-poverty theory, the CPC has steadily alleviated and eliminated poverty since its founding one hundred years ago, explored a new path to poverty alleviation with Chinese characteristics, and accumulated its own experience in establishing a rule-of-law system for poverty eradication.

Poverty Reduction Ideas in the Traditional Concepts of Ancient China

The thoughts of social security in Chinese history can be traced back toShangshu(TheBook of Documents), which cites Gao Yao’s and Yu the Great’s discussions including, “It is wise to be able to observe the talent of a person” and “It is necessary to benefit the people in order to give them a peaceful life.” In later days, these ideas have gradually developed into social security ideologies with far-reaching effects. First is the idea of storing grain to prepare for shortages. To prevent famine, ancient China established a grain storage system, which relied on state power to ensure the basic survival of the members of society. The chapter ofWangzhi(Royal Regulations) inLiji(The Book of Rites) stipulated that “without storage for the use of nine years, it is called insufficient; without storage for the use of six years, it is an emergency; without storage for the use of three years, the country is not qualified as a country” (Dai, 2019, pp. 145－177). The chapter ofOffices of EarthinZhouli(Rites of Zhou) explained twelve requirements of “shortage management,” including “distributing relief supplies,” “l(fā)owering taxes,” “reducing the mobilization of labor,” and “suppressing the robbers and thieves,” in order to store grain and prepare for shortages (Wan, 1998, pp. 51－104). In the Han dynasty, the ever-normal granary and charity granary systems were established. During the Tang and Song dynasties, the social relief system of China was finalized. There were more types of granaries used for relief while the relief measures had gradually become routine. Second is the idea of caring for elderly persons and children. The chapter ofLiyun(The Conveyance of Rites) inLiji(The Book of Rites) depicts the social ideals that “widowers, orphans, elderly persons without a family, and people with disabilities should all be taken care of” (Dai, 1998, pp. 96－105). The chapter ofWufu(The five aids) inGuanzi(Writings of Master Guan) advocates to “assist those in urgent needs,” which is mainly realized by systems, such as “feeding the elderly,” “taking care of young orphans,” “subsidizing widowers,” “visiting patients,” and “comforting victims.” In the Song Dynasty, “nursing homes” were set up in the capital to accommodate widowers, orphans, and the elderly without family. “Relief shelters” were set up in various prefectures and counties to care for the poor and sick while “charity gardens” were built to accommodate elderly and disabled persons. In the Qing Dynasty, special agencies were set up to take charge of social relief measures, such as poverty relief and orphan care. Third is the idea of mutual assistance between people. This idea was derived from the opinions of Mohism during the Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period. The chapter ofJianai (Inclusive Love) Part OneofMozi(the Mohist Canon) proposes that, “If all people in the world can love each other,” “the world will be governed well.” The chapter ofTeng Wen Gong Part OneofMenciusalso advocates to “help each other” and “be friendly to the neighbors.” In addition, non-governmental welfare facilities for mutual aid between people, such as clan fields and schoolowned fields also existed in ancient Chinese society. Apart from being used in ceremonies of sacrifice, the land-rent income was also used to subsidize and care for the households in the clans that were in difficulty, or to pay salaries to teachers and subsidize the living of poor students. The social security thoughts of ancient China involved the tradition of placing the responsibility in the hands of officials, causing discussions of on governmental responsibility to emerge earlier than in western societies. The implementation of social security was also relatively complete, involving not only poverty relief, but also diverse charity systems including social welfare facilities.

Poverty Reduction Thoughts in Welfare State Theory

The welfare state theory originated from “socialism of the chair” advocated by Adolph Wagner of Germany and “Fabian socialism” born in the United Kingdom (Kang & Hu, 1991, p. 532). The theory holds that the state should provide basic social welfare to the public. The modern social and economic structure has encouraged people to rely heavily on society so that the state has no choice but to shoulder the responsibilities that were once assumed by families and communities (Sun, 1997, p. 175). The welfare state theory takes welfare economics and Keynesianism as its theoretical pillars. It holds that the state should adopt appropriate tax policies to redistribute national income and implement social welfare policies, such as social insurance and unemployment allowances to secure the livelihoods of the people while taking measures to stimulate investments and consumption in order to ensure economic prosperity. Adjustments have been made according to neoliberal theories in the 1980s, so that theoretical viewpoints of welfare policy theory revolve around basic presuppositions, such as “public welfare is a basic social right of citizens” and “welfare distribution is a basic obligation of the government.” The system of welfare distribution was born due to the interactions between politics and economics in capitalist countries. The institutionalization of public welfare policies exerted political and economic effects. The reform of the political system legitimized citizens’ social rights and the citizens’ welfare has been guaranteed by law. Through negotiations, the working class reached compromises on welfare with the bourgeoisie, and the proceduralization and institutionalization of negotiating for welfare were realized so that the welfare state theory was proven in practice. Concerning the political functions of the welfare state theory, the welfare distribution system enhances citizens’ trust in the state, thereby promoting the legitimacy of governance. From a practical point of view, developing countries have also learned from the values of the welfare society theory, which has enriched the policy basis for public management in developing countries (Xie, 2020). However, in the poverty control of China, the theory has presented a people-centered nature of “universal welfare.” It constitutes a socialist welfare distribution mode that belongs to the fundamental system, which has developed and transcended the westernized versions of traditional welfare theories.

Poverty Reduction Thoughts in Human Rights Theory

The theory of human rights was born in Europe in the seventeenth century and was developed by the bourgeoisie in the struggle against feudalism. When human rights theories were being developed during the proletariat movement, the concepts of human rights were further expanded, and “political rights” had been gradually developed to cover the economic, social, and cultural fields. The Marxists believe that the essence of human rights is realized by labor. Among the rights of people, the right to life and the right to development are in a holistic system. Human rights do not exist a priori, nor are they natural rights deduced based on humans’ rational premises. Human rights are embodied as developed social practices and are social rights that are normative and ideal, and the establishment of a rule-of-law system and institutionalization for human rights is necessary.

TheDeclaration on the Right to Developmentin 1986 confirmed the concept that the right to development is an “inalienable human right” (Song, 1993, p. 179). TheVienna Declaration and Program of Actionstated that extreme poverty and social exclusion constitute a violation of human dignity” and advocated “the promotion of human rights and efforts to combat extreme poverty.” The right to development means that everyone in the world has the right to participate in, promote, and enjoy economic, social, cultural, and political development. Poverty hinders economic, social, cultural, and political development and directly deprives people of the right to development. The alleviation and elimination of poverty is the basis for the full realization of the right to development (Li, 2016). Article 33 of theConstitution of the People’s Republic of Chinastipulates that, “The state respects and protects human rights.” Since 2009, China has announced three phases of national human rights action plans. The targets include “steadily providing adequate food and clothing for the poverty alleviation targets,” “tackling key problems of poverty relief for the concentrated and contiguous poverty-stricken areas,” “establishing a long-term mechanism for rural dilapidated house transformations,” “strengthening the development-oriented poverty reduction for the disabled in rural areas,” “comprehensively safeguarding citizens’ economic, social, and cultural rights, ensuring equal access for all people to such services,” and “l(fā)ifting the entire population who live under the current poverty line out of poverty.” The process of poverty reduction in rural areas led by the CPC is also a process of all-around development of China’s human rights cause. It has always embodied and included the strategies, targets, and tasks of liberating and protecting the people, as well as allowing the development of the people.

The Process of Practicing the Rule of Law in the Poverty Reduction Efforts of the CPC

During the period of the New Democratic Revolution, the CPC implemented the system of “l(fā)and-to-the-tiller,” granting land ownership to poor farmers; after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the land reform consolidated the basic socialist system and laid the foundation for China’s poverty reduction. Since the reform and opening up, with the “Eighth Five-Year Plan” as the official starting point, the CPC has adhered to the development-driven poverty alleviation model that involves “guidance by the governments, the transformation of the growth model, and strengthening the capability of self-development for poverty alleviation targets,” and has gradually improved the design of education and infrastructure systems. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, “targeted poverty alleviation” has prevented the poverty alleviation process to overextend and become disorganized. It has enhanced the stability, scientific nature, and standardization of poverty reduction, and accumulated institutional experience for the development of poverty alleviation under the rule of law.

The Poverty Reduction Model with Land Distribution as an Important Element

For some time after the founding of the CPC, the rural poverty reduction under the leadership of the Party revolved around the distribution of land. This was due to several long-standing problems in China, including the low level of productivity, the large poverty-stricken population in rural areas, and the large share of agriculture in the national economy.

During the period of the New Democratic Revolution, the CPC realized that issues faced by farmers, especially the rural land issue, were the fundamental issues of the Chinese revolution. Under the historical circumstances at that time, a land system reform was the only way to improve the living conditions of the poverty-stricken people, and to provide the needed material foundation for the revolution. The general policy of carrying out agrarian revolution and organizing armed uprisings was formulated at the “August 7th Meeting” in 1927 (Ma, 1980). In 1928, Mao Zedong presided over the formulation of theJinggang Mountains Land Lawand theXingguo Land Lawand implemented the policy of “confiscation of public land and land of the landlord class” and “immediate distribution to poor peasants.” After three years of practice, the guidelines for the agrarian revolution were developed and implementation instructions included “rely on the poor peasants and farm laborers, unite with the middle peasants, restrict the rich peasants, and eliminate the landlord class.” In 1937, the total resistance against Japanese aggression started. The CPC further advanced the land reform in the revolutionary base areas and started relief work through land distribution and reduction of rent and interest. In September 1947, theOutline of the Land Law of Chinasummarized the legal experience formed during the agrarian revolution, implemented the “l(fā)and-to-the-tiller” system on a larger scale, ensuring that the people in the liberated areas could enjoy broad and equal land ownership. The legal regulations related to land distribution in the liberated areas laid the institutional foundation for solving the extreme poverty problems in China at that time. In this early phase, the experience was accumulated, and it later benefited the implementation of poverty reduction with Chinese characteristics after the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

In the early days since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the agricultural population accounted for a large proportion of the country’s total population, while the povertystricken people were mainly concentrated in the rural areas. The poverty reduction efforts had to be focused on the distribution and utilization of the means of production, in which land was the most important element. Concerning land issues, Mao Zedong offered a series of opinions and resolutions, and approved opinion papers and reports, includingRegarding Land Reform and Financial Work, Consulting Opinions on the Strategies Aimed at Rich Peasants,Opinions on Spring Plowing, andLand Reform and Cadre Training Work. After that, theAgrarian Reform Law of the People’s Republic of Chinawas issued and implemented. The first nationwide land system reform was carried out as the land ownership system of farmers was implemented. Judging from the actual effects of the land reform, after three years of land system reform across the country, the purchasing power of the people in 1953 increased by about 25 percent. The “rapid increase of the purchasing power of farmers” (Liao, 1952) alleviated poverty in rural China. During this period, the CPC guaranteed the right to life of the rural poor by the socialist reforms focused on land, and laid the material foundation for the poverty reduction efforts in the period.

As of 1978, there were 250 million rural poor people in China, and the poverty incidence was 30.7 percent. With the advancement of the reform and opening-up, the CPC led the rural villages across the country to implement the innovative household responsibility system, which was, in effect, the land responsibility system originating from Xiaogang Village. Regulatory documents, including theRegulation of the Trial Implementation of Agricultural Technology Responsibility System, and theInterim Measures for the Administration of Rural Land Responsibility System Contracts in Beijing(Gan, 1989, pp. 518－519) confirmed the effectiveness of the system. The “No. 1 central document” in 1984 extended “the period of land contracted management,” stating that “the period of land contracted management should generally last more than fifteen years” (Zhang, 2008). In the same year, 99 percent of the basic accounting units in rural China completed the reforms concerning the household responsibility system. TheDecision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Strengthening of Agriculture and Rural Worksissued in November 1991 ordered the established “household responsibility system” to be “a basic system” of the rural economy of China. By the legislation of the National People’s Congress, theAmendment to the Constitution of the People’s Republic of Chinaissued in 1993 formally defined the “household responsibility system” as “the sector of socialist economy under collective ownership by the working people.” It demonstrated that due to the changes of times and the needs of social development, the distribution methods for rural land, which was dominated by land as a means of production, needed a major adjustment. It also indicated that the innovation and development of the rural relief method dominated by land distribution were affirmed by the national fundamental law. As of 1993, the national poverty incidence had dropped to 8.7 percent, and the population without adequate food and clothing had dropped to eighty million (Yao, 2017, p. 12).

A Poverty Reduction Model with Poverty Alleviation and Development as an Essential Element

The poverty alleviation and development under the leadership of the Party is a poverty reduction model led by the party committees and governments which gathers diversified social forces, uses the market economy as the main means, and carries out mobilization with policies to assist the poor to increase their income and stimulate the economic growth in poverty-stricken areas. Its characteristic lies in “focusing on the long-term development of poverty-stricken areas and regarding the change of basic production conditions as the core of the work.” Poverty alleviation and development place more emphasis on the equalization of basic public services, including adhering to the development-driven poverty alleviation policies, realizing the effective connection between poverty alleviation and development and the rural minimum living security system, and encouraging and helping the poor who are able to work to get rid of poverty through their own efforts.

Top-Level planning and implementation.

With the advancement of the reform and opening, China has begun to rebuild the system and mechanism of anti-poverty actions, transforming poverty alleviation based on relief and disaster relief to development-driven poverty alleviation, that is, transforming from a “blood-transfusion” type of poverty alleviation to a “blood-formation” type of poverty alleviation. In 1993, the Leading Group under the State Council for the development of Impoverished Areas changed its name into the State Council Leading Group of Poverty Alleviation and Development, marking the formation of a government-led poverty governance system responsible for poverty alleviation and development. In 1994, thePriority Poverty Alleviation Program(1994－2000), China’s first-ever special poverty alleviation plan, was formulated and implemented. It is committed to “provide adequate food and clothing to 80 million impoverished rural residents within seven years, the end of the 20th century.” The China’s Agenda 21 passed by the executive meeting of the State Council in 1994 established that eliminating poverty by the promotion of rapid economic growth is a state obligation and determined to implement sustainable development strategies. The Central Committee of the CPC and the State Council have jointly issued theOpinions on Improving the Work Relating to Agriculture and Rural Areassix times. The documents proposed changes that promote institutionalization, including the acceleration of the adjustments of rural regional planning, establishing a quality standard system as well as an inspection and testing system that are unified and authoritative for agricultural products, reforming the promotion system for agricultural science and technology, strengthening the construction of rural markets, safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of farmers (migrant workers), implementing rural land policies, deepening the reform of the grain circulation system, protecting the interests of the major producing areas and grain growers, and accelerating the reform of the rural financial system. In 1996, the Central Committee of the CPC and the State Council issued theDecisions on Effectively Easing the Burden of Farmers. In the following year, theDecisions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Providing Adequate Food and Clothing to Poverty-Stricken People in Rural Areaspropose to “combine the support from the state” with the “cadres’ and the general public’s own efforts in the poverty-stricken areas.” In 2001,the Outline of Development-Driven Poverty Alleviation in Rural Areas(2001－2010) was implemented to realize the participatory poverty alleviation strategies which take “empowerment,” “participation,” and “capacity building” as the core. Under the guidance of this poverty reduction concept, the party committees at all levels have formulated many internal regulations and internal regulatory documents. The local people’s congresses and governments at all levels have also begun to experiment with local legislative practices under the theme of “poverty alleviation and development,” to safeguard the poverty alleviation efforts in rural China through decentralized legislation and regulation establishment.

Rural education investment.

Rural education is of fundamental, leading, and overall importance in poverty alleviation and development. “The vigorous development of education is the key to alleviating and changing the problems of poverty and uneven regional development.” In 1996, the State Education Commission and the Ministry of Finance signed the agreements of responsibility for the National Compulsory Education Projects in Poverty-Stricken Areas with twelve provinces, marking the formal implementation of the poverty alleviation projects for education. Since 2001, the special fund from “National Compulsory Education Fund for Poor Students” has been used to subsidize the miscellaneous and living expenses of the primary and secondary school students in povertystricken areas and old revolutionary base areas in Western China. A system to provide free textbooks for primary and secondary school students with financial difficulties in rural areas has been established. In 2002, the Ministry of Education, the State Development Planning Commission, and the Ministry of Finance jointly implemented a pilot “one-off-fee” in for rural villages’ compulsory education in major counties involved in national poverty alleviation and development. During the compulsory education stage, any school concerned should only charge students a reasonable and affordable one-off fee. In 2002, theCircular on Improving the Management System of Compulsory Education in Rural Areasestablished and improved the “supervision and inspection, commendation and reward, and accountability systems.” The

Decision of the State Council on the Reform and Development of Basic Educationin 2002 and 2003 and theDecision of the State Council on Further Strengthening Rural Educationsuccessively promulgated and established a management system for rural compulsory education that has “l(fā)ocal governments take responsibility, adopts hierarchical management, and is countybased.” TheNotice on Deepening the Reform of the Rural Educational Expenditure Assurance Mechanismin 2005 exempted students from tuition and miscellaneous fees at the stage of compulsory education in rural areas and improved the wage assurance mechanism for primary and secondary school teachers working in rural areas. In 2006, the Leading Group for the National Reform of the Rural Educational Expenditure Assurance Mechanism was established. In the same year, a system of exempting tuition, miscellaneous fees, and textbook fees for rural compulsory education was implemented. As of the end of 2018, China had formulated a unified construction standard for urban and rural schools, gradually unified the staffing standards for teachers in urban and rural areas, realized a unified standard benchmark for public funding per student in urban and rural areas, and a unified basic equipment standard for urban and rural schools (Wang, 2018). In 2017 and 2018, 80 percent of the central government’s educational transfer payments were used in rural central and western regions as well as poverty-stricken areas. Between 2013 and 2020, 108,000 shoddy schools for compulsory education in poverty-stricken areas were renovated, and 99.48 percent of the construction plans for basic-level culture service centers in the central and western regions had been completed.

Rural social security.

In addition to the persistent leadership on development-driven anti-poverty actions, the CPC also focuses on strengthening the security-based anti-poverty system. The rural social security system was formed based on the Five Guarantees System in the 1950s. The 1956Model Articles of Association for Advanced Agricultural Producers’ Cooperativesstipulates that rural producers’ cooperatives should arrange to care for the production and livelihoods of the aged, weak, widowed, or disabled members who have no ability to work or have lost all abilities to work. In particular, theOutline of National Agricultural Development from 1956 to 1967requires the agricultural cooperatives to take care of the members with “no ability to work” and “have no one to rely on” by bearing their food, clothing, fuel, education, and burial expenses. TheRegulations on the Work of Providing Five Guarantees, which was the first administrative regulation for Five Guarantees work issued by China, was implemented in 1994. In 1997, theInterim Measures for the Management of Elderly People’s Homes in Rural Areaswas issued to regulate the elderly care system in rural areas. The implementation of the above two regulations demonstrates that rural social security has started to follow the rule of law. In 2003, the pilot new-type rural cooperative medical system was launched to explore the establishment and improvement of the new rural cooperative medical system, the medical care system, rural cooperative medical care management institutions, the rural circuit medical system, and the deepening of the reform of the rural medical system (Zhu, 2003). The promulgation and implementation of theNotice on Establishing the Rural Minimum Living Standard Security System across the Countrymarks the establishment of the rural minimum living security, guaranteeing to cover the basic needs of rural residents in food, clothing, water, and electricity. TheGuiding Opinion on the Pilot Program of New Social Pension Insurance in Rural Areas, issued in 2009, stipulates that the rural residents who have reached the age of 16 (non-students) are qualified for joining the new agricultural insurance program, so that their basic needs after retirement are covered. The relevant funds come from individual contribution, collective subsidies, and government subsidies (Bai, 2009). After three years of pilot operation, China’s rural pension insurance had achieved full coverage as of July 2012. By the end of 2020, the goal of establishing hospitals above level B in all poverty-stricken counties has basically been achieved; 19.36 million poverty-stricken people are being taken care of by the relief systems, including the rural minimum security system; 60.98 million poverty-stricken people are being taken care of by the basic pension system for urban and rural residents; and the goal of covering all poverty-stricken people with basic medical insurance has basically been achieved.

Agricultural tax reform.

TheRegulation of the People’s Republic of China on Agriculture Taxwas promulgated and implemented in 1958 and unified the agricultural tax system through legislation by the People’s Congress. However, after 40 years of development, due to the long-term subsidy plans for the industrial sector, the proportion of the agriculture sector in the GDP gradually decreased. The CPC has thus taken a direction of reform towards common prosperity for everyone with poverty control policies that involve subsiding the agriculture sector by the income of the industrial sector and reducing the burden on farmers. In 1998, theDecision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Big Issues on Agriculture and Rural Workproposed a “gradual reform of the agricultural tax system.” This was the first time that such a proposal was made in the form of a decision at an important party meeting. TheNotice on the Pilot Project of Agricultural Tax Reformin 2000 proposed to “regulate the agricultural tax system.” In the same year, agricultural tax reform was piloted in Anhui. In 2003, the State Council published the

Opinions on Comprehensively Promoting the Pilot Project of Rural Tax Reformand implemented the Pilot Project of Agricultural Tax Reform throughout the country. The 2004Report on the Work of the Governmentproposed to “abolish rural tax within five years” (Han, 2004). Only two years after the pilot project was started, a total of twenty-eight provinces across the country had practically ceased to collect rural taxes as of the end of 2005 (Li, 2005). In the following year, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress passed adopted theDecision onAbolishing the Regulation on Agriculture Tax (Draft)which stated mentioned that the “state” had turned “from taking to giving” for the first time in its relationship with the “farmers” in terms of taxation. Compared with the pre-reform period, the total burden on all farmers in China was reduced by about RMB125 billion, and the per capita burden was reduced by about RMB140 (Qiu, 2021). In addition, the central government’s expenditures on “three rural issues” (issues relating to agriculture, rural areas, and rural residents) have continued to increase since 2006. The expenditures on direct subsidies for grain producers and the subsidies for purchasing agricultural machines have continued to increase, while the improved varieties of crops that are entitled to subsidies have also continued to expand (Li, 2011).

Infrastructure construction.

Most of the poverty-stricken districts are in remote areas. Their harsh natural environments and poor infrastructures are the major factors that hinder the anti-poverty efforts. The previous prioritized poverty alleviation programs and theOutline of Development-Driven Poverty Alleviation in Rural Areashave one common goal in poverty alleviation, which is to improve the basic infrastructures in poverty-stricken areas and to focus on building public facilities, such as water conservancy facilities for farmland, drinking water facilities for humans and livestock, electricity facilities, roads, postal services, and telephone lines. The executive meeting of the State Council passed theEmergency Safety Project of Portable Water in Rural Areasin 2005. In addition to solving the drinking water problem previously faced by sixty million of rural people, the project covers the needs of another twenty million of rural people. In December of the same year, the Central Committee of the CPC and the State Council issued theSeveral Opinions on Effectively Strengthening Agricultural InfrastructuresandFurther Promoting Agricultural Development and the Enhancement of Farmers’ Income, which proposed to “consolidate and improve the existing circulation network” and push forward the “Ten Thousand Villages and One Thousand Townships Market Program.” Since then, the state’s investments that focus on rural infrastructures have continued to increase. For example, the investment in 2007 amounted to RMB180 billion, an increase of nearly 13 percent from the previous year; the total length of new and reconstructed rural roads exceeded 420,000 kilometers, an increase of more than 30 percent from the previous year (Lu, 2008). Later in 2008, a three-year campaign called the “Rural Highway Construction Quality Year” was launched (Lu, 2008); Afterwards, a series of regulatory documents, including theInstructional Opinions on Engineering Construction and Administration of Government-supported Residential Houses, Administrative Rules on Improvement and Upgrading of the Rural Power Grid, Technical Principles for the Improvement and Upgrading of the Rural Power Grid, Notice on the Conscientious Implementation of the Administrative Rules on Rural Road Constructionand theGuiding Opinions of the Ministry of Transport on the Construction of Rural Roads in the 12th Five-Year Plan,have been implemented. A preliminary institutional standard for rural infrastructure has been established and has benefited the a number of rural residents.

A Poverty Reduction Model with Targeted Poverty Alleviation as an Important Element

Targeted poverty alleviation is a means of poverty alleviation that applies scientific and effective procedures to implement precise identification, accurate help, and precise management for poverty-stricken areas with different situations and the poverty-stricken households with different conditions. The changes in the targets of the anti-poverty efforts in China have prompted the emergence of the concept of targeted poverty alleviation. It is necessary to apply a set of precise technologies and methods to poverty alleviation. Only with corresponding institutional control, adjustments, and accurate assessments can the accuracy of relief be embodied. At the same time, rigid institutional standards can control the subjective discretion of the administrative units and thus prevent the poverty alleviation relief process from overextending and becoming disorganized.

Precise identification system.

In November 2013, on his inspection tour to Hunan province, General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed the concept of “giving differentiated guidance for targeted poverty alleviation in line with local conditions by seeking truth from facts” (Yang, 2013). In December of the same year, the National Conference on Development-Driven Poverty Alleviation announced that “China will establish a targeted poverty alleviation mechanism,” “Dynamic management should be applied to the poverty-stricken people while a sound and strict management system for poverty alleviation funds should be established” (Gu, 2013). In 2004, theOpinions on Innovating Mechanisms to Promote Rural Poverty Alleviation and Developmentproposed to give top priority to “poverty registration” and formulated theRegistration Plan for Poverty Alleviation and Development, theRegistration Index System for Poverty Alleviation and Developmentand theImplementation Plan for the Establishment of a Targeted Poverty Alleviation Work Mechanism. A unified method for identifying targets of poverty alleviation was formulated by the state, thereby realizing the unification of the technical standards for poverty identification. Since 2014, 800,000 grassroots officials have started to devote their time to villages. Household applications for poverty registration were discussed and reviewed, disclosed for public supervision, and then evaluated by each level of administration. 128,000 poor villages, 29.48 million poor households and 89.62 million poverty-stricken people have been identified, and a unified national information system of poverty alleviation and development was established. In the following year, 8.07 million povertystricken people who were newly identified were added to the list. This is the first time in China’s poverty alleviation and development history that the identification is accurate to the household and headcount levels (Zhu, 2021).

Supervision and assessment system.

The supervision and assessment system for targeted poverty alleviation led by the CPC is an important mechanism for guaranteeing the implementation of the targeted poverty alleviation work. Generally speaking, a “top leader responsibility system” was adopted in the targeted poverty alleviation work. In practice, the work is done through a working mechanism with the central government making overall arrangements, provincial governments assuming primary responsibilities, and city-level and county-level governments implementing specific tasks. The performance is measured by the annual supervision and inspection systems for the poverty alleviation work. To ensure a good result of poverty eradication, standards, procedures, and verification methods for the withdrawal from poverty registration have been formulated (Gu, 2016).

The design of supervision and evaluation mainly adheres to the Party’s internal regulatory documents. For example, theMeasures for Evaluating the Effectiveness of Poverty Alleviation and Development Work Done by Provincial Party Committees and Governmentsstipulates that the assessment work should be organized by the State Council Leading Group of Poverty Alleviation and Development once a year from 2016 to 2020 to assess reduction of poverty-stricken people registered for poverty situations, the accuracy of their identification, their satisfaction with the relief work done by the resident work teams in poor villages, and the use of the poverty alleviation funds. At the same time, the administrative responsibility system was introduced into the assessment. For the provinces with with their assessment results below standard, the State Council Leading Group of Poverty Alleviation and Development will interview the main leaders of the provincial party committees and governments. If the circumstances are aggravated to cause problems or adverse impacts, such leaders will be held accountable. The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee held a meeting in March 2016 and required strict implementation of the poverty alleviation report system, responsibility system, assessment system, and supervision and inspection system in the process of targeted poverty alleviation. In April of the same year,the Opinions on Establishing a Poverty Deregistering Mechanismformulated the standards and procedures for deregistering from the poverty list and strengthened the supervision and accountability system. It stipulated that the State Council Leading Group of Poverty Alleviation and Development, as well as the party committees and the governments of all provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities), should organize and carry out inspections on poverty alleviation. Supervision and special inspections should be carried out annually and periodically on a phased basis or irregularly. In October of the same year, theImplementation Measures of the Responsibility System for Poverty Alleviationstipulated that “the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection should be responsible for the supervision, discipline enforcement, and guarantee of the accountability in the battle against poverty alleviation,” “the Supreme People’s Procuratorate should focus on rectifying and preventing occupational crime in the field of poverty alleviation,” and that “the National Audit Office should conduct a real-time audit of the funds used by the key projects in the implementation of poverty alleviation policies.”

The assessment approach for targeted poverty alleviation shows a developing trend of being problem-oriented and result-oriented. In terms of specific assessment methods, “cross-reviews between provinces” and “media visits without prior notice” have been gradually adopted. In terms of data collection for the assessments, “democratic supervision,” “supervision and inspections,” “special supervision and inspections by competent authorities,” and “discovery by supervision” have been gradually developed. In terms of the content of the assessments, assessment methods, such as “focusing on the identification accuracy of poverty-stricken people,” “focusing on the deregistration accuracy of poverty-stricken people and the satisfaction of the people,” “focusing on the implementation of accountability, policies, and specific work” have been developed (Zhu, 2021).

The system of dispatching resident work teams to poor villages.

In 2014, theOpinions on Innovating Mechanisms to Promote Rural Poverty Alleviation and Developmentclearly stated that: Based on the ongoing work in various provinces, an extensive system of dispatching resident work teams to poor villages should be established. The Opinions required the implementation of security measures, establishment of incentive mechanisms and a long-term and institutionalized resident work team system in poor villages so that these teams can become the platforms and channels for the implementation of targeted poverty alleviation. The resident work teams (groups) are required to actively participate in various work for poverty alleviation and development, implement security measures, establish incentive mechanisms, and build a long-term and institutionalized resident work team system in poor villages. In 2015, theDecision on Winning the Tough Battle Against Povertyspecified the selection, assessment, and promotion systems for the officials dispatched to villages. In that year, every poor village had its own resident work team while every poor household was taken care of by at least one responsible official. As of the end of 2020, a total of 255,000 resident work teams, as well as more than three million of resident first secretaries and officials had been dispatched to villages across the country.

The Development Path of the Rule of Law in the Poverty Reduction Efforts Under the Leadership of the Communist Party of China

At present, China has eliminated extreme poverty, and the major task left for the antipoverty efforts is to eliminate comparative poverty. To fulfil this task, it is necessary to have a stable and clear legal framework as the foundation, take the improvement of the development ability of the people in comparative poverty as the means, and aim at helping them to to get rid of poverty ultimately. The construction of the rule of law lays the foundation for rights and institutional protection for the alleviation of comparative poverty. It promotes the systematization of the poverty reduction system, the protection of the rights of people in comparative poverty, and the proceduralization of the poverty reduction process, and ensures that the government’s poverty reduction functions must be provided for in laws and regulations to realize the establishment of a rule-of-law system in the transformation of the poverty reduction model. In the future, the focus of poverty reduction should shift from providing materials to relief recipients to enabling them to gain development abilities, and from increasing income to expanding rights. It is also necessary to develop a law-based poverty reduction mechanism, establish modern and law-based governance thoughts for continuous advancement of poverty reduction, and strengthen the integrity and standardization of the poverty reduction efforts under the leadership of the CPC.

Realizing the Protection of the Rights of the People in Comparative Poverty

Poverty reduction in the new era should not be limited to subsidizing the people in comparative poverty, but also to providing them with the right to development, opportunities for development, essential conditions for development, and the prospects for development. Amartya Sen believed that “poverty should not be simply defined as insufficient supply, as it is also a manifestation of insufficient rights… Rights poverty appears as a type of poverty, while it is also the underlying cause of many other poverty conditions” (Ma, 2008, pp. 69－74). Sen’s theory of rights poverty emphasizes the protection of the rights of the impoverished groups to be assisted, and also emphasizes that the impoverished groups should also be able to participate in the economic, political, social, and cultural development with rights equal to other groups, as well as to have the rights to enjoy the results (Sen, 2013, pp. 24－25).

Through legislation concerning poverty reduction, China has established a series of legal rights, including the right to an adequate standard of living, the right to social security, the right to education, and the right to receive financial assistance.The Construction Plan of a Law-Based China (2020－2025)states that “By 2035, the rule of law for the country, the government, and society will be basically completed… the people’s right to equal participation and equal development will be fully guaranteed…” The plan demands that the rule of law should be integrated with the public services provided to the people, and integrated with the right to development of the individuals. While developing and establishing the rule-of-law system in poverty reduction, the manifestation of these regulations provides a theoretical basis for determining the content of poverty reduction in the future. In the future development of poverty reduction, anti-poverty, sustainable development, and the protection of civil, social, and political rights should be closely integrated to provide stronger protections for poverty reduction by realizing the equalization of rights. Specifically, it should include the right to subsistence, medical assistance, education aid, and financial support. The corresponding security mechanisms can also be divided into the abovementioned categories:

Protecting the right to life.

Extreme poverty endangers human life and health, shortens the life of human beings, and reduces the quality of human life. It is necessary to ensure basic dignity and values of individuals through the right to life. The right to life is the right that protects the safety of human life and guarantees their living conditions and is also the foundation of other human rights. It mainly includes providing material security at a “minimum level” as the basic requirement and guaranteeing the spiritual needs of the relief recipients. For the vast population in rural China, the core human right that needs to be guaranteed is the right to life for the rural poverty-stricken people. In the hundred-year long process of the party’s leadership, the poverty reduction effort led by the CPC focuses on extreme poverty and the development of the poverty population’s right to life. China has brought about a historic resolution to the problem of extreme poverty. To prevent the population in extreme poverty from rebounding, the construction of the rule of law concerning poverty reduction should protect the right to life through the raising of assistance funds, the setting of relief details, and the connection of the minimum-security system and the relief system.

Protecting the right to medical assistance.

From the perspective of constitutional norms, the right to medical assistance is based upon Article 45 of theConstitution of the People’s Republic of China, which stipulates that the state shall develop “social relief” and “medical and health services” for citizens to enjoy the basic right to “material assistance.” It is an idealistic right enjoyed by the poverty-stricken people which is compatible with the social and economic development level, a preventive right to protect the right to life, and is a compound form of rights that carries the attributes of legal rights and actual rights. The main point of medical assistance is to specifically subsidize the medical expenses of the poverty-stricken people and other low-income groups with a government-led safety-net system. A high proportion of the rural population of China falls into poverty because of illnesses. In view of this, medical assistance can play a role in holding the baseline, which is of great significance to the work of poverty reduction in rural areas. In the future, we should continue to strive to connect poverty reduction relief to the new basic medical insurance system for the rural areas.

Protecting the right to education aid.

The right to education is a basic right granted to Chinese citizens by theConstitution of the People’s Republic of China. Education aid is mainly provided by the government or social organizations. It aims at protecting the right to education of the people of the right age through the means of education expense reduction and subsidies, to help the people of the right age to advance their educational levels. It is an important welfare method to solve poverty. The poverty control, led by the CPC, incorporates education aid into the poverty reduction work. Education aid is regarded as an important rights protection mechanism to reduce inequality of opportunity, which is a kind of rights poverty. It promotes education equity for the poverty-stricken people with education equity and prevents poverty from passing on from generation to generation. In the future, we should continue to protect the right to education of the people of the right age by projects, such as popularization of pre-school education, balanced development of compulsory education, training of skills by vocational education, promotion of the quality of higher education and training, financial assistance for poor students, care for children with special needs or difficulties, rural teacher development plans, and the assistance for education informatization as well as partner assistance for education.

Protecting economic and cultural rights.

TheConstitution of the People’s Republic of Chinastipulates that the state shall improve the material and cultural life of the people. In poverty reduction, it is necessary to continuously increase the supply of basic public services in rural areas, further enhance the government’s duties in providing basic public services in rural areas and establish a resource allocation mechanism and performance evaluation system that gives priority to the supply of basic public services in rural areas. It is also necessary to provide a safety net for the people in comparative poverty with disabilities or serious illnesses to prevent them from falling back into poverty. A tight and sound anti-poverty system should gradually be built to protect and realize the economic and cultural rights of impoverished groups.

The Proceduralization of the Implementation of Administrative Actions for Poverty Reduction

Procedural justice is “reflected in the actions related to procedures taken by a specific entity in accordance with legal provisions and legal authorizations” (Zhao, 2019, p. 137). Promoting the proceduralization and the rule of law in the exercise of power in anti-poverty work is procedural protection to safeguard the exercise of power in anti-poverty work and the rights of the poverty-stricken people. The level of administration by law should be promoted by adopting strict procedures of entry and exit, strict management of projects, strict regulations for the use of funds, and strict enforcement of accountability (Peng, 2019, pp. 135－138). Advancement of the information disclosure of the exercise of power in anti-poverty work is necessary to the realization of the rule of law and fairness of the procedures involved in the exercise of power in anti-poverty work. Information disclosure is a prerequisite for the poverty-stricken people to participate in the exercise of power in the anti-poverty work. It is also a prerequisite for the poverty-stricken people and all social stakeholders to supervise the exercise of power in the anti-poverty work. With reference to the practical experience of theRegulation on the Disclosure of Government Information, integrating with the actualities in the anti-poverty work, the legislation concerning anti-poverty should make special provisions on the issues relating to the disclosure of anti-poverty information. In addition, it is necessary to fully protect the procedural rights of poverty-stricken people, including the right to know, the right to supervise, the right to participate in decisionmaking and the right of relief, in all aspects including the identification of poor households, operational procedures regarding project funds, procedures for the use of funds, deregistration of poor households, and all accountability procedures, so that anti-poverty power can truly operate according to the rule of law.

The legal protection mechanism of the procedures for the use of assistance funds.

The utilization procedures of assistance funds should center on information disclosures and include the following main contents: for the information disclosure for the use of funds, the obligation subjects, specific scope, method of information disclosure and time of information disclosure should be regulated. Among all, the specific scope of information disclosure should include all information related to the current statuses regarding funds and any substantial changes; the method of information disclosure should allow convenient inquiry and access to the information by the public. In addition to the information disclosure procedure, which is at the core of the utilization procedures of resources, it is also necessary to formulate detailed management procedures for funding projects, performance evaluation procedures for the use of funds, audit and inspection procedures of disbursements, and accountability procedures for illegal and criminal acts involving the use of funds according to the characteristics of the use of the funds. The existence of these procedures can maximize the effectiveness of the management, regulation, and supervision of the use of funds within the state organs, so that these efforts can be complemented by the public supervision involved in the information disclosure system and ensure the effectiveness of the use of assistance funds.

A procedural rights protection mechanism based on legal aid.

Concerning the poverty reduction projects, the procedural rights of the impoverish groups include the right to know, the right to supervise, the right to participate in decision-making and the right of relief when their basic rights are violated. Their rights to know and the rights to supervise should involve the planning and scope of the poverty reduction projects, the developmental progress of the poverty reduction projects, the gain of benefits in the poverty reduction projects, and the use of assistance funds. The right to participate in decision-making includes establishing a project initiation and hearing system for the poverty reduction projects. The representatives of the impoverished groups should be invited to the discussions and the decision-making processes, and their opinions and suggestions should be fully respected. When their opinions and suggestions are not adopted, clear explanations should be given.

The matching security mechanism should include improving the civil litigation rules. The current litigation mechanism only stipulates the channels and methods of relief when the private rights of the relief recipients are infringed, while the channels and methods of relief when the collective interests are infringed are still unclear. Considering that the relief recipients are in a weaker financial position, the possible assistance methods include appropriately reducing the litigation costs for the plaintiffs, setting up a sharing mechanism of litigation costs that is tilted in favor of the plaintiffs, and setting up an administrative public interest litigation fund with government funding or social donations. Improvement of the rules regarding legal aid related to poverty reduction is also needed. The law should provide for the procedures for the necessary publicity and education of law, and the publicity for the necessary procedures for obtaining support and assistance when their legal rights are infringed, to make up for their lack of legal capacity that objectively exists as they become the plaintiffs of civil litigations. It is necessary to improve the administrative mediation and adjudication rules for poverty reduction disputes. Realizing that civil litigations will occur in the process of continuous poverty reduction, the relief recipients, as the vulnerable groups, should be given full options when choosing the legal procedures. They should be encouraged to fight for their rights by administrative mediation and administrative adjudication, which are of lower costs and with higher flexibility. If they are still dissatisfied with the results of administrative mediation and administrative adjudication, they can continue to conduct civil litigations. This can, to a certain extent, counter the disadvantages faced by the relief recipients, including the higher costs of civil litigations and other knowledge barriers.

The procedural protection mechanism for the assessment and enforcement of accountability for poverty reduction.

Standardize the management, supervision, assessment, and accountability mechanisms through legislation, to divert the mechanisms onto the track of the rule of law. Clarify the supervision and assessment mechanisms for poverty reduction work. Departments responsible for finance, auditing, and rural revitalization should regularly audit, supervise, and inspect the use of funds and the implementation of the projects. Conduct audit and supervision in accordance with laws, regulations, and the plans for coordinated use of funds. The department in charge of poverty reduction should work with the responsible departments to establish annual ledgers for major projects, clarifying the deadlines of completion, and the persons in charge.

Formulating a Unified “Poverty Reduction Law” When the Time Is Ripe

TheDecision of the CPC Central Committee on Major Issues Pertaining to Comprehensively Promoting the Rule of Lawasked to “strengthen and standardize public services in accordance with the law” and “improve the laws and regulations on poverty alleviation.” TheSeveral Opinions on Strengthening the Reform and Innovation to Accelerate the Modernization Process of Agriculturerequired that all major rural reforms be administered as legally required, while the legislation shall actively adapt to the needs of rural reform and development. Measures that have been proven to be effective in practice shall be upgraded to a law under mature legislation conditions to “improve the legal system for supporting and protecting the ‘three rural issues’” (Li, 2015). TheGuiding Opinions on the Three-Year Actions Aiming at Winning the Tough Battle against Povertyasked to “coordinate the integration of the battle against poverty and rural revitalization,” “race against time to study and formulate poverty reduction strategies after 2020,” and “research for the advancement of legislation concerning the development of poverty alleviation.” The poverty control, led by the CPC, has eliminated extreme poverty. The traditional legal experience of China has been reflected in the development of poverty alleviation policies that have proven to be effective, and has also provided a legal basis for further planning for the alleviation of comparative poverty. By summing up the experience in the poverty reduction effort in China led by the Party, based on effectively integrating the law resources gathered previously, the formulation of a unified “Poverty Reduction Law” could be considered. Through the mature system of legislation by the People’s Congress, the planning for poverty reduction can be integrated into the strategic planning of law-based governance.

The overall planning and coordination of existing legislative achievements.

Poverty reduction is a systematic project, and the legislation concerning poverty reduction must involve the relationships with other laws and regulations. First, it is important to coordinate the relationship between the “Poverty Reduction Law” and the Social Security Law. In the major countries in the world, development-driven poverty reduction and securitybased poverty reduction coexist, and the functions of the two are not interchangeable. From the perspective of a legal nature, “Poverty Reduction Law” and the Social Security Law belong to social laws, but the legal functions and the objectives of the laws are not exactly the same. The legislation of the “Poverty Reduction Law” should focus on development rather than protection. Working on the coordination between “Poverty Reduction Law” and the Social Security Law is imperative so that the two can support each other and function together as a key component for implementing the rural revitalization strategies. Second, the relationship between the “Poverty Reduction Law” and the existing poverty reduction policies should be well coordinated. The “Poverty Reduction Law” should establish a formal poverty relief system, institutionalize the national poverty reduction policies, and use the system to ensure consistence governance for poverty reduction. It is necessary to improve its development on the institutional level, carry out a supply-side reform of the poverty reduction system, improve the effective connections between different systems, such as development, relief, and security, solve the fragmentation problem of poverty control, and improve the comprehensive governance structure and governance mechanisms to ensure the accuracy and effectiveness of the work and results of the poverty reduction policies. Third, in addition to improving the legal system of poverty reduction, it is also necessary to pay attention to the connections of relevant laws, such as finance and taxation laws, with the poverty reduction law.

Codify the route and direction, principles, and policies of the Party.

During the legislative process of the “Poverty Reduction Law,” it is necessary to implement the route and direction, and principles and policies of the Party, while concretizing and codifying the Party’s principles and policies, which have been proven correct in practice. The CPC is the leader and promoter of reform. As the reform enters different stages, it will prompt the Party to think continuously. According to the actual situation of social and economic development, the Party will promptly introduce and update appropriate policies, arrange planning for work, and provide directions for legislation. The Fourth Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee explicitly calls for adhering to the path of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics and building a socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics. Under the guidance of these principles and policies, the legislative activities of the legislature have also undergone corresponding changes and transformations. According to the summary of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, China has established six major systems to support the policies of poverty alleviation, namely the responsibility, policy, investment, mobilization, supervision, and assessment systems for the battle against poverty, all of which are aimed at implementing the decisions and deployment of the battle against poverty and follow the requirements of the central government to comprehensively deepen the reform. These provide institutional safeguards for winning the battle against poverty. These policies have been tested in practice, and in the future, they should be promptly incorporated and transformed into national laws and regulations through the establishment of the “Poverty Reduction Law.”

Draw on the local legislative experience in rural poverty alleviation and development.

Due to the enormous size of the poverty control system, poverty reduction work is characterized by being long-running, systematic, flexible, and complex. The steps of building a poverty control system should be interlocking and be guided by law in both thinking and action. The construction of a standardized system will be smoother with the experience accumulated by local administrations as they implement advanced and pilot policies. From the perspective of historical development, the poverty reduction legislation of China has actually adopted the model of “piloting policies first in local regions before extending them to the entire country.” Up to now, there are 217 central-level laws and regulations and judicial interpretations in China, including thirty-one administrative regulations, twenty local regulations, and five judicial interpretations: 434 ministerial rules and 18 local government rules. Although the legislations first introduced by a local legislature have a high coverage rate, this does not mean that the legal relationships on poverty reduction are clear. Also, general consensuses on basic concepts and core procedures have not been reached. Certainly, from the other way round, the differences in the existing local legislation can help to accumulate positive and negative experience, to provide better technical support for the legislation of a unified law.

Taking into account the local legislations for poverty alleviation that have been widely implemented, coupled with the distribution of the limits of the legislative powers between the Central Government and the local administrations stipulated by theLaw on Legislation, it is necessary for the poverty reduction law to appropriately distribute the powers and responsibilities of the Central Government and the local administrations in the legislative system of poverty reduction. Considering the successful results of the battle against poverty, the public has high expectations for future poverty reduction work. The poverty reduction law must deal with the relationships between the value expectations of the public for the poverty control system and the rule-of-law structure of the poverty control system. Therefore, it is not advisable for the drafting of the future “Poverty Reduction Law” to be based directly on the results of local legislations. Instead, we will need to strike a balance among the experimental nature, scientific nature, and appropriateness of legislations to guide and standardize future poverty control from the level of national legislation to secure rural reforms and build a poverty reduction plan with wide coverage that involves the overall development of urban and rural areas.