WEBVTT

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Previously on Life. The land development goals
provide us for the first time in history

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with a shared vision. The rich countries
have to improve significantly

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and so to the poor countries, there\'s no way
we can achieve this with both doing their job.

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Everybody talks about the international
society, we don\'t have one,

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some of us are trying to create one and the
entities is a tool in their (inaudible).

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[music]

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China today has one of the
fastest-growing economies in the world.

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But with 1.3 billion people

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it also has the largest
population on earth.

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Hundreds of millions of Chinese live

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far from the coastal regions
generating this new wealth.

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Hunger, sickness, ignorance,
and an early death

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are too often the fate of those
left isolated and impoverished.

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The first of the UN\'s
Millennium Development Goals

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to eradicate extreme hunger and poverty
is designed to address their needs.

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[non-English narration]

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In 1978, the number of poor
in China was 250 million,

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at the end of last year
it was 28.2 million.

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The percentage of people in poverty went from
30% to less than 3% of the rural population.

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[non-English narration]

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The Chinese government defines poverty
as an individual surviving on less than

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66 US cents per day.

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The World Bank defines absolute
poverty as surviving on $1 US a day.

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So by its standards, there are many
more Chinese living in poverty

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than the government acknowledges.
But whichever measure is used,

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China\'s recent progress is remarkable.
When you look at the achievement of China

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in bringing the level of livelihood of
three to four hundred million people

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out of poverty to give them a better
chance of life you have to say

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that this is an accomplishment
of historic proportions.

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I think it is the story of two sides
and it is of course obviously,

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it is a good story. But behind the
good news, there is a problem

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and you have to look at that China is a
fastest growing economy in the world

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and then they are a lot of
people become rich very fast,

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and that at the same time, the
poor people are falling behind

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and the China has now become the fast
the country with the fastest growing

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in equality in the world. In
this program, Life looks at how

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China succeeded in freeing so many people from poverty, and whether it can now use
the lessons learned to help poor communities throughout the rest of the country.

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[sil.]

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In 1978, China introduced a bold new policy

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known as reform the economy and
open to the outside world,

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it began a process that has transformed
China and the lives of ordinary Chinese.

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One of the first and most important changes was
called the household responsibility system.

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This ended centralized
agricultural planning

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and returned land used for communal
farms back to individual families.

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By freeing the productive
capacity of millions,

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the policy aimed to become the single largest factor
in helping China\'s rural poor escape from poverty.

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(inaudible) a part of (inaudible)

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village in China\'s southwest Guangxi Duong autonomous
region is pretty far off the beaten track.

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[sil.]

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Cut off from markets and technology, the people
here always live below the International dollar

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a day poverty line.

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At 88, Weyoun Ching

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is the oldest person in the village.

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[non-English narration]

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Our dream was to have enough to eat, enough
to wear, to have electricity, a telephone,

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and a two-story house.

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[sil.]

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The southwest poverty reduction project initiated by the
Chinese government with support from the World Bank

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has provided basic infrastructure
development like roads and electricity,

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allowing new information technologies to
link the people with the wider world.

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Innovative water management systems

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have freed the villagers from the
daily grind of fetching water.

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Improved seed and animal
stocks have increased income

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and the project has provided
better health care and education.

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[sil.]

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The farmers of (inaudible)
have never had it so good.

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[music]

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For as long as anyone can remember, each
family in (inaudible) collected firewood

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and brush from the hillsides to cook
with, but as the population grew,

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they had to go further and further to find fuel
stripping the vegetation from the hillside.

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(inaudible)

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has seen his income quadruple
over the past few years.

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No longer worried about immediate survival,
he has begun to take a long-term view.

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[non-English narration]

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We are building power gas tanks
to protect the environment

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and to have cleaner energy resources. Now
almost all of the families rely on power gas.

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We know that we are protecting the
environment and are saving energy.

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[sil.]

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The villagers are sparing 24 kilos

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of wood per day per household
or around 9,000 kilos

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per year per family.

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Scaling up policies like these bring huge improvements
to the lives of millions of Chinese farmers,

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help save the countryside from devastation
and contribute to slowing climate change.

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[sil.]

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[non-English narration]

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But productivity is just one part of the
equation. The farmers of (inaudible)

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must also get their produce to market.

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Eleven kilometers away,
three rocks or sand sure

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in Chinese is the nearest market town.

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To link (inaudible) with three rocks, the
authorities built a road in the late 1990s.

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[sil.]

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By making it easier for people to get to town, the
government hopes to stimulate the flow of products,

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information, and ideas.

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[sil.]

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Major policies like reform the economy
and open to the outside world,

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and the household responsibility system are aimed
at giving China\'s rural farmers the freedom

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and incentive to improve there lot.

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Specific programs like the Southwest
Poverty Alleviation Project

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aim to give them the means.

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[sil.]

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China\'s farmers have done a lot but
there\'s still a long way to go,

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and where they are going is to work.

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[music]

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Around a hundred million
Chinese from the countryside

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are now finding work in China\'s wealthiest cities
and sending the money back to their hometowns.

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The increasing trend towards (inaudible)

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or labor mobility has become a vital part in projects,
like the Southwest Poverty Alleviation Project.

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It facilitates the flow
of labor to the cities

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and capital to rural areas.
Policies like these are intended

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to create an Ïinstitutional framework for poverty
alleviation, though there\'s always a question

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as to whether such a framework can
be implemented at the local level.

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People think China is a central (inaudible)
economy, but actually it\'s a very big country

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and the central government and do
not always have very direct control

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of all the specific aspects
of the local activities.

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And so how to coordinate between the central
government and the local government,

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also at the same time how to coordinate
between different departments

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of the government and how to handle
the different interest groups.

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Getting this balance right can
allow individual initiative

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and innovation to flourish. Nowhere else
in China is this better illustrated

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than in Wenzhou in China\'s
coastal (inaudible) province,

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where 97% of the economy is privately held.

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Here, leading enterprises that help bridge the gap between agriculture
and industry can qualify for special government subsidies.

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If they process agricultural commodities,
engage rural labor in industry,

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and enlarge markets for rural produce.

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(inaudible) or dragon heads,

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they are often run by entrepreneurs
with roots in China\'s peasant villages.

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Su Zhong Jie is a dragon head. He
remembered the woven grass mats

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which the farmers used for
drying their grain and slept on,

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on hot and humid summer nights. By adapting
these into high-quality beach accessories

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for the International Resort set, Mr.
Su has created a business

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with sales last year of
over 8 million US dollars.

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We are using our quality to
win over the market and grow.

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And the reaction of our clients
and the customers has told us

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that our product looks
good and it\'s reliable.

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I think when… when China
have these entrepreneurs

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and who become rich very quickly,
it has a positive effect

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on people. They offer inspiration
for the rest of the society

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and to let them see that there is
opportunity, real opportunity to become rich,

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by themselves. But at the same time, because
there\'s no well-developed framework

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for income redistribution,

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and they contribute significantly
to the inequality,

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income and social inequality in China.
As a result they contribute

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to the social instability.

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But the straw mat business is also a
structured poverty alleviation effort.

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The farmers produce the raw material during the winter in the
same fields that grew rice in the more temperate seasons.

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And Mr. Su purchases
partly fabricated products

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from these small producers linking
them with international markets.

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Dragon heads are leading the
way from mats to mushrooms.

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This local mushroom cooperative has
become a shareholding enterprise

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linked with a (inaudible) foodstuff
import and export corporation,

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opening vast export markets
for this simple commodity.

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By commissioning the farmers to supply mushrooms, the
project is both raising and guaranteeing farmers incomes.

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[non-English narration]

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Just about everywhere now
village raises mushrooms.

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Last year I made more than 20,000.

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It was closer to 30,000. Well, 25,000.

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One enterprise that sharing its success

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with local communities is (inaudible).

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It contracts farmers to produce
ducks and other rural produce,

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directly and indirectly employing thousands of Chinese
farmers and helping to raise the standards of production

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and distribution of rural products. Okay.

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Su (inaudible) father sold sunflower seeds

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and peanuts in a remote mountain town.
With more education

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and a modern business plan, Mr. Su is
the chief executive of (inaudible)

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which distributes these simple
commodities throughout China.

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This year its turnover was
more than $23 million.

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Inspired by the dragon
heads, millions of Chinese

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are now dreaming of a better future.

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I want to be a teacher (inaudible).
I wanna be a doctor.

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In an historic demographic shift,
the majority of China\'s population

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will soon live in cities. But what if these
cities begin to consume as much as those

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in industrialized countries?

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China\'s population is so large
that with no curbs on migration,

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its urban infrastructure
could easily be overwhelmed.

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Although there is much greater
freedom now to move to the city,

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still requires a residence permit. To
encourage a more orderly migration,

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the Chinese government has drawn up
a plan for voluntary resettlement

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known as \"Come down from the Mountain\" it
allows farmers who want to make the transition

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to move to development
areas, like (inaudible).

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The (inaudible) development area

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a sleepy sort of town halfway
between the farm and factory is one

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of 590 similar sites around Wenzhou
which rural migrants can choose from.

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The Come down from the Mountain policy

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aims to help those who can\'t survive on marginal
land to move closer to an urban existence,

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taking substantial pressure
of fragile land better suited

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to forests than farming.

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The development areas are just
the first step on a long journey

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because hundreds of millions of people are
projected to come down from the mountain.

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The city of Wenzhou attracts farmers
with the promise of prosperity

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though some an often
forgotten minority don\'t get

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residence permits.

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Urban life is tantalizing, but
too many seems unreachable.

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The farmers answer was to create (inaudible).
The first city built by and for farmers,

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but China will have to build hundreds
of new cities over the next 20 years

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to absorb rural labor migration.

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These people move to urban areas,
they do not enjoy and residential

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improper urban residents and
do not have the work permit.

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And they do not enjoy many benefits
that are available to urban residents.

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It\'s… Working in urban area

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is not always a story of
success quite often they live

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in very poor conditions and
have no social protection.

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Foreign Direct Investment particularly the
setting up of \"special economic zones\"

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is one solution, offering
opportunities for new rural migrants.

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[sil.]

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One of the most rapidly growing areas
is the ancient city of (inaudible).

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The special economic zones
here provide more jobs

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and aspire to international
standards of workmanship.

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Technology transfers like this

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coupled with the income from export manufacture
aim to enable China\'s rapid movement

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from an agrarian to industrialized
urban society and have led to

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a burgeoning domestic market, one that
will soon be the largest in the world.

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But for millions of Chinese,

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participating in this growing domestic
market remains a distant dream.

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Poor areas often have the
worst natural conditions.

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In Chinese, we say that they
are the hardest bones left.

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Such areas are behind in social development
and it\'s very hard to make improvements.

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To tackle the really hard parts,

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China has decided to go west.

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China\'s Western development effort is a vast program
designed to transfer technology and capital

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from the more developed
regions to the interior.

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One area targeted is China\'s Loess Plateau.

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The plateau, an area of the
size of France stretching

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over parts of seven different
provinces was once a huge forest.

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Historic annals tell of rushing
rivers and wild animals.

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Here, along the Yellow River is the cradle

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of Chinese civilization.

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Guo Hai Wang grew up in (inaudible) village

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in China\'s Inner Mongolia autonomous region
and remembers a very different life.

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[non-English narration]

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Desert, before here was all sand,
right here where I live was sand.

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In 1978, we had environmental problems
that seemed impossible to solve.

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We didn\'t have enough food, our
clothes weren\'t warm enough.

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Loess is a powdery sedimentary soil

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dangerously vulnerable to erosion.

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It\'s so fine that it is
easily absorbed into water.

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Thousands of years of human impact

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and lack of conservation measures have removed
the trees and grasses with catastrophic results.

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[sil.]

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Here, China has embarked on arguably the
largest development project on earth,

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the goal

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to rehabilitate the ecosystem
of the Loess Plateau.

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[music]

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In (inaudible) village,

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goats and especially their valuable
wool are the main sources of income.

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But uncontrolled goats and sheep are a
major factor pushing the fragile land

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towards desertification.

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The Chinese government
with World Bank loans

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has spent a decade and $150 million
to begin the rehabilitation

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in nine tributary watersheds
of the Yellow River.

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Terracing vast tracts of land considered
wasteland for generations is intended

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to open up new opportunities
for Chinese farmers.

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And farmers who have the land use rights
are more likely to maintain the terraces.

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Planting perennial crops

00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:44.999
like fruit trees and actively
promoting grasses stops the constant

00:22:45.000 --> 00:22:49.999
uncovering of the fragile soil.

00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:54.999
Sustainable water management
as in this reservoir

00:22:55.000 --> 00:22:59.999
stores water from seasonal rains avoids depleting
finite supplies like underground aquifers

00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:04.999
and ensures that the water resources
necessary will continue to be available

00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:09.999
as the land and the people develop.

00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:14.999
Keeping their goats in pens and
feeding them with fodder stops

00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:19.999
the animals from eating the grasses down
to the roots protecting the fragile soil.

00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:24.999
[sil.]

00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:29.999
Measures like these are transforming the
landscape in the areas served by the project

00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:34.999
and helping the people free
themselves from poverty.

00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:39.999
[non-English narration]

00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:44.999
It was really unimaginable. I
didn\'t dare to dream about it.

00:23:45.000 --> 00:23:49.999
Before my house was made of
clay, now I have a brick house.

00:23:50.000 --> 00:23:54.999
These two decades we\'ve
seen an incredible change.

00:23:55.000 --> 00:23:59.999
(inaudible) knows what it means
to be an environmental refugee.

00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:04.999
His family came to (inaudible)
village in (inaudible)

00:24:05.000 --> 00:24:09.999
47 years ago, when he was a little boy
seeking higher ground as they fled

00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:14.999
the Yellow rivers flooding. Few people in
the early days thought of the Loess Plateau

00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:19.999
was a land of opportunity and it took a lot
of courage even to begin to farm there.

00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:24.999
[sil.]

00:24:25.000 --> 00:24:29.999
[non-English narration]

00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:34.999
Before the project was
implemented, we only made around

00:24:35.000 --> 00:24:39.999
500 yen per person.

00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:44.999
Now our productivity has been raised,
we can make more than 1000 yen

00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:49.999
per (inaudible). Every family
has new houses, telephones,

00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:54.999
and power gas. The change is very big.

00:24:55.000 --> 00:24:59.999
[sil.]

00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:04.999
Ten years after the first
terraces were built,

00:25:05.000 --> 00:25:09.999
there is visible and measurable improvement.
Warping dams designed to fill up

00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:14.999
with silt have made flat fields in the
ravines. New warping dams higher up

00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:19.999
continue this till entire
gullies are covered.

00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:24.999
[sil.]

00:25:25.000 --> 00:25:29.999
History has repeatedly shown that human
impact can destroy fragile ecosystems,

00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:34.999
in particular disrupting
the hydrological cycle.

00:25:35.000 --> 00:25:39.999
Now China\'s Loess Plateau is providing
valuable evidence that it may be possible

00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:44.999
to restore large-scale damaged ecosystems.

00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:49.999
For China,

00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:54.999
with 22% of the world\'s population and
only 7% of the world\'s arable land,

00:25:55.000 --> 00:25:59.999
the implications for poverty reduction
of providing more fertile land

00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:04.999
are enormous.

00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:09.999
Geographic barriers are coming down.

00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:14.999
And the Chinese are also trying to
educate their way out of poverty.

00:26:15.000 --> 00:26:19.999
[non-English narration]

00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:24.999
In Guangxi, they are still hitting
the books at 10 o\'clock at night.

00:26:25.000 --> 00:26:29.999
In Inner Mongolia, computer classes
are opening the world to children

00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:34.999
in remote villages.

00:26:35.000 --> 00:26:39.999
And in (inaudible)

00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:44.999
the high school has proudly posted copies
of the acceptance letters from universities

00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:49.999
to its last year\'s graduates, though with jobs
being cut back in old state controlled industries,

00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:54.999
they may yet face unemployment.

00:26:55.000 --> 00:26:59.999
Many young people graduated
from the universities

00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:04.999
as well as high schools and education.
They have no working experience

00:27:05.000 --> 00:27:09.999
and when they get out of the school and have
to face up to unemployment straight away.

00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:14.999
According to World Bank statistics

00:27:15.000 --> 00:27:19.999
and there is only 1% of urban
population who I employed

00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:24.999
and was trapped in poverty.

00:27:25.000 --> 00:27:29.999
But it is already one of
the fastest growing causes

00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:34.999
of poverty in China.

00:27:35.000 --> 00:27:39.999
The Chinese have introduced a new concept.

00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:44.999
The socialist market economy which they believe
can provide a framework for eradicating poverty

00:27:45.000 --> 00:27:49.999
without relying on welfare
and state subsidies.

00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:54.999
China\'s poverty alleviation program

00:27:55.000 --> 00:27:59.999
is not a relief program, we do not just supply
money. We\'re focused on helping people to improve

00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:04.999
their capabilities to develop the areas by
themselves. To improve their basic living

00:28:05.000 --> 00:28:09.999
and work conditions, that way they
can walk out of poverty forever.

00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:14.999
[sil.]

00:28:15.000 --> 00:28:19.999
I think the Chinese have developed
their own knowledge and experience

00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:24.999
from which we can (inaudible). I think now
is the time to say to our Chinese friends,

00:28:25.000 --> 00:28:29.999
let\'s sit down together and
compare Chinese experience,

00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:34.999
with experience in other countries, with the experience
that the bank has had and see if we can pull out

00:28:35.000 --> 00:28:39.999
of this collective experience, lessons that can
be used in addressing the question of scale.

00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:44.999
The Chinese are continuing
to scale up their efforts

00:28:45.000 --> 00:28:49.999
to end poverty trying to turn the best
local practices into national policies.

00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:54.999
But now they face a new problem as
in so many other countries the gap

00:28:55.000 --> 00:28:59.999
between the rich and the poor is widening.
I think the key lesson is

00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:04.999
when you try to build up an economy
which emphasizes on fast growing

00:29:05.000 --> 00:29:09.999
and it\'s… it is very important

00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:14.999
to deal with the people who are
left behind and to make sure

00:29:15.000 --> 00:29:19.999
that the inequality is not growing
so fast as to be out of control

00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:24.999
and cause social instability.

00:29:25.000 --> 00:29:29.999
The big question now is can China bridge the
growing gap between those who have benefited

00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:35.000
from its amazing economic
growth and those who have not?