Partners in Poverty Reduction

Chinas model of poverty reduction includes a partnership assistance program in which a poverty-stricken area is paired with more developed places， government agencies， public institutions and state-owned enterprises to assist it with their skills and resources.

All the 592 key impoverished counties have designated partners. Altogether 310 agencies affiliated to the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council have participated in such partnership assistance.

The China International Publishing Group （CIPG） is one of the public institutions incorporated in this model. Since 2002， the veteran media house has partnered with Zuoquan， a county in Shanxi Province， north China， helping it shake off poverty through educational programs， special livelihood projects and funding infrastructure.

CIPG sent 27 of its employees to Zuoquan in 11 batches. There， they have served in various positions according to their expertise. Their work varies from formulating targeted measures for economic and social development while keeping in mind the local conditions， helping kickstart promising projects， and explaining to the people the policies created for their benefit and how they can avail of them.

The partnership assistance model mainly focuses on reducing poverty via industrial development， relocating the poor from inhospitable locations and training the local officials and labor force. After 18 years of work， heartening progress has been achieved with Zuoquan officially taken off the list of impoverished counties in 2019.

The model reflects Chinas political and institutional advantages. Those appointed in temporary positions in povertystricken counties are skilled and promising people who bring to poor areas new ideas， mindsets and skills. They also learn from the experience. They learn about the conditions in rural China， which provides food for the nation， and become more aware of how they can contribute to nation-building. Some of the temporary appointees decided not to go back to their cities after their tenure was over but to stay on to add their strength to the last-mile battle.

The partnership assistance model has taken more officials to the grassroots. They have better understood the real conditions and improved their work style， which has improved the engagement between the Party and the people and between the government and the people. It is a process of training for the trainers themselves and is a win-win way to shake off poverty.