Abstract
PurposePoverty alleviation has been a major theme of China's modernization process since the founding of New China. This paper points out that China's poverty alleviation process presents three stylized facts: “Miraculous” achievements of poverty alleviation have been made on a global scale; the poverty alleviation achievements mainly occurred in the high growth stage after reform and opening up; the poverty alleviation process is accompanied by the structural transformation of the urban–rural dual economy.Design/methodology/approachTherefore, a logically consistent analytical framework should form among the structural transformation of the dual economy, economic growth and the achievements in poverty alleviation. In logical deduction, the structural transformation of the dual economy affects rural poverty alleviation through the effects of labor reallocation, agricultural productivity improvement, demographic change and fiscal resource allocation.FindingsThe first two refer to economic growth, and the latter two are alleviation policies. The combination of economic growth and poverty alleviation policies is the main cause for poverty alleviation performance. China's empirical evidence can support the four effects by which the structural transformation of the dual economy affects poverty alleviation.Originality/valueChina's socialist system and its economic system transformation after reform and opening up provide an institutional basis for the effects to come into play. After 2020, China's poverty alleviation strategies will enter the “second-half” phase, namely, the phase of solving the problems of relative poverty in urban and rural areas by adopting conventional methods and establishing long-term mechanisms. This requires the facilitation of the reconnection between poverty alleviation strategies and the structural transformation of the dual economy in terms of development ideas and policy directions.
Highlights
Since the reform and opening up, China has created a “miracle” of economic growth worldwide
Based on the basic stylized facts of China’s poverty alleviation, this paper focuses on exploring the theoretical mechanism and empirical evidence of the structural transformation of the dual economy affecting China’s poverty alleviation performance
According to “Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2018: Piecing Together the Poverty Puzzle” released by the World Bank in October 2018, three standards for the level of expenditure per person per day calculated based on the 2011 purchasing power parity (PPP) are given: US$1.9, US$3.2 and US$5.5, which correspond to the poverty lines of low-income countries, lower-middle-income countries and upper-middle-income countries, respectively
Summary
Since the reform and opening up, China has created a “miracle” of economic growth worldwide. According to the data from the World Bank, China’s per capita GDP calculated in current US dollars increased from 156.40 US dollars to 9,770.85 US dollars from 1978 to 2018, and in the 2010 constant US dollars, it grew from 307.09 US dollars to 7,752.56 US dollars. China’s economic growth has been coupled with a considerable decline in the poor population, especially within the rural areas. Published in Simplified Chinese in Economic Research Journal.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
