This open access book presents the findings of the author's three decades long studying of China's evolving anti-poverty strategies. It argues that across the world today, much of the billions spent yearly on economic aid is squandered by incompetent governments or used to treat the symptoms but not the root causes of poverty. China, however, has evolved an effective sustainable alternative, which is to empower people by providing the means for self-reliance, which not only helps relieve economic poverty but also poverty of spirit. The success of China's historic war on poverty was due not only to top-down visionary leadership but also to the bottom-up initiatives of a populace unswervingly united in ending poverty.The author has spent over 3 decades, from 1993 to 2019, in field research where he drove over 200,000 kilometers across China and interviewed hundreds of people from all walks of life, including national leaders to study the evolution of China's anti-poverty strategies. Stories included in this book show that China's war on poverty began after liberation in 1949 with a rather simplistic focus on aid and redistribution, but this often led to dependency and "poverty of spirit." Then over time, the philosophy shifted to empowerment by fostering self-reliance-or as Chinese put it, "blood production rather than blood transfusion." The primary method of empowerment was to provide modern infrastructure, "Roads first, then riches," so rural dwellers in remote Inner Mongolia or the Himalayan heights of Tibet had the same access to markets and jobs, or Internet for e-commerce, as their urban counterparts. Then people who seized the opportunities and prospered first used their newfound wealth and experience to help others.The stories in this book include people like a Tibetan entrepreneur whose family was impoverished in spite of 300 years of service to the Panchen Lama, or the farm girl with 4 years of education who now has international schools, a biotechnology company and poverty alleviation projects across China, or the photographer who walked 40,000 km through deserts to chronicle the threat of desertification. Their tales underscore how diverse peoples across China helped make possible China's success in alleviating absolute poverty and why China they are now confident in achieving a "moderately prosperous society."This is an open access book.

Hersteller:
Springer Verlag GmbH
juergen.hartmann@springer.com
Tiergartenstr. 17
DE 69121 Heidelberg

Dr. William Brown, at Xiamen University since 1988, is OneMBA Academic Director and Professor of Leadership and Strategy. Fujian's first foreign PR, he has driven over 200,000 km around China exploring its development, co-written and hosted over 400 TV episodes, and consulted with cities on urban and rural development. Honors have included China's "Friendship Award," "Honorary Citizen of Fujian" from then-governor Xi Jinping, "Top Ten Educator 1954-2014," and "CCTV's Moving China 2019" award. He published Chasing the Chinese Dream with Springer in 2021.