According to sources attending a symposium on the sustained
development of China's poorer areas it's expected that a special
fund will be established to help with poverty reduction.
The poverty reduction fund was proposed by the China Association
for Poverty Alleviation and Development but there's no timetable as
yet on when it'll be launched, said the association's vice
president Tian Ruizhang.
Tian said their application had been submitted to the government
and was being reviewed.
"China has achieved a great deal in poverty reduction but the
biggest obstacle in this endeavor is a lack of funds," he told the
Tianjin symposium.?
From central funds between 2001 and 2005 arrangements were made
for 57.2 billion yuan (US$7.15 billion) of poverty relief funding
to be made available with an annual increase of 6.45 percent.
"This is not sufficient for the huge poverty-stricken population
which stood at 23.65 million in rural areas at the end of last
year," Tian told Xinhua in an exclusive interview Sunday.
Nor was there enough funding from China's financial
institutions, he said. "None of the four big state-owned commercial
banks has a branch in the needy areas."
A fund for poverty reduction purposes would be an effective way
to channel money for the benefit of poorer regions and attract
investors as such funding was expected to yield a reasonable
return, said Tian.
(Xinhua News Agency May 15, 2006)