Rural poverty relief may be poorly directed

Residents gather in Jincheng Square to sing, dance and pursue other pastimes. [Photo/China Daily]

 

Numerically rich

According to the Fuyuan county government annual report, the county had GDP of more than 13 billion yuan in 2011, with revenue of 2.94 billion yuan. In urban Fuyuan, the residents' disposable per capita income rose to 21,255 yuan, roughly 14 percent higher than the 18,576 yuan provincial average. Meanwhile, the per capita net income of rural residents reached 5,210 yuan, 39 percent more than the provincial average of 3,747 yuan. The most important yardstick in deciding which counties will be categorized as poverty-stricken is the proportion of poor residents. Looking at the statistics, it's hard to believe that Fuyuan qualified for the national poverty-relief system.

Fuyuan has the third-largest economy of the eight counties and districts in Qujing city, which has jurisdiction over Fuyuan. Qujing was allocated two places in the national poverty-relief system in 2001. The 249,000 residents of Huize county are the poorest among Qujing's eight counties and districts, which meant that the other seven counties had to compete for the other place. Surprisingly, Fuyuan was once again designated as a national-level poverty-stricken county in February.

In 2001, Fuyuan was categorized as a national impoverished county, with per capita net income of 1,538 yuan a year and 104,700 low-income residents. From 1995 to 2000, the county received 44.3 million yuan from the central and provincial governments, according to publicity department officials. The poverty- alleviation fund increased to 1.09 billion yuan from 2000 to 2005, and 1.13 billion yuan from 2006 to 2010.

Experts said the reason local governments compete to gain the status of national impoverished counties is the financial support offered by the central and provincial governments.

Wu Sui, deputy director of Yunnan Provincial Poverty Alleviation Office, said Fuyuan has been successful in boosting its economy, but still wants to receive poverty-relief funding. In 2011, the central government allocated 2.6 billion yuan for Yunnan's 73 national-level poverty-stricken counties, and the provincial government gave 700 million yuan. The funds helped to raise incomes and eliminate poverty, said Wu.

This year, the focus of poverty-relief efforts has shifted to the mountainous areas. Yunnan has four key areas, covering 85 counties, including 70 designated as poverty-stricken. Fuyuan was one of three counties excluded from the new plan. "I think the reason Fuyuan was not included in the key areas was that it exceeded other similar counties in terms of farmers' net income and annual revenue," Wu said.

To some extent, the exclusion was evidence of the economic superiority of Fuyuan. But for Jiang Zhou, director of the local poverty alleviation office, the county is both rich and poor simultaneously.

The poor land

Jiang attributed the local poverty to the poor condition of the land and a shortage of water. More than 95 percent of land in Fuyuan is in mountainous areas, and the low quality sharply reduces yields. Serious droughts in the past three years have exacerbated the situation.

Meanwhile, the local coal industry, mostly privately owned, has produced more than 140 millionaires and even a few billionaires. "In our county, about 90 percent of the total wealth went to 10 percent of the population," commented Jiang, but, "The coal industry has helped to raise average incomes."

In 1954, Fuyuan (which means "rich in resources" in Chinese) was renamed in recognition of its coal reserves of 8.6 billion tons, and is one of the top 100 coal-producing counties in the country. Because of that status, the local economy is impressive. The county also ranked 45 in the "Top 100 Counties in Western China" in 2011, according to the independent researcher, the Zhongjun Institute of County Economy in Beijing

However, in 1998 the coal industry underwent profound reform and most of the government-owned mines were sold. Within two years, 90 percent of the mines had been bought by village chiefs, former mine directors, ex-officials of the coal industry bureau and township governments, according to an owner of a private mine, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals. He said some mines were sold for just 100,000 yuan, with the most expensive costing less than 1 million yuan.

This year, the price of coal has skyrocketed to 400 to 500 yuan a ton from around 30 to 50 yuan in 2000, further widening the poverty gap. According to the unnamed owner, one could easily make a net profit of at least 36 million yuan from a mine with an annual production capacity of 150,000 tons.

The gap is wide inside the mines too. A middle-level manager is paid 30,000 yuan a month, while a miner earns 1,000 to 3,000 yuan, about 20 percent more than five years ago. "In the last five or six years, the gap between the rich and poor has become wider," said the unnamed owner. "Owners earned more than 10 times the profits seen 10 years ago, but miners' salaries have increased by just 20 percent."

Can we fix it?

The coal industry contributes more than 72 percent of Fuyuan's GDP, according to the county's annual report, and the local government has been heavily dependent on that. In the short term, the government can collect remarkable tax revenue by encouraging owners to produce more coal. "In Fuyuan, coal mines are overworked, but the owners and the government won't admit it," said the unnamed owner. "In one extreme case, a mine with a designated capacity of 60,000 tons produced more than 1.6 million tons of coal last year," he added.

The wealth gap between rich and poor occurs in other areas too. Last year, 14 nationally designated poverty-stricken counties, including Gushi in Henan province, were added to the list of the top 100 counties in terms of economic output, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

Since 2007, Fuyuan county government has received 576 million yuan in donations from local mine owners. One of them, Niu Jiade, from Housuo township, has donated more than 60 million yuan to boost local education since the 1990s. For him, education is the way to long-term development.

Wu Sui, director of Yunnan provincial poverty alleviation office, said the public should share the fruits of reform and opening-up, especially the poorer populations in underdeveloped areas.

Guo Anfei in Kunming contributed to this story.

Contact the reporter at huyongqi@chinadaily.com.cn