【By Liu Bai, Observer】

China's tangible achievements in poverty alleviation are gaining increasing recognition from the international community, and a wave of reflection is quietly spreading within Western media.

"China has lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty, while the United States has not, and this is its own choice." On November 23, the UK's The Guardian published a comment article by economic and political columnist Eduardo Porter, pointing out that the poverty issue in the United States is not an accidental flaw of the market economy, but a systemic feature.

He pointed out that over the past few decades, both parties of the US government have prioritized market efficiency, ignoring the wealth gap. The Trump administration's policies further exacerbated this inequality. Even though Trump claimed to represent the interests of ordinary workers, he did not change the core logic of wealth distribution.

In the era of globalization, the Chinese people have performed quite well. Porter mentioned that according to World Bank data, in 1990, China still had 943 million people living on less than $3 per day, accounting for 83% of the population. By 2019, this number had dropped to zero.

Unfortunately, the United States was not so successful. There are still more than 4 million Americans living on less than $3 per day, a number three times higher than 35 years ago, accounting for 1.25% of the total population.

On November 11, in New York, USA, a homeless person sleeps on the sidewalk with his belongings. Visual China

Data released by the US Census Bureau in September showed that the main indicator measuring the US poverty rate did not change significantly in 2024, at 12.9%, with the so-called official poverty rate at 10.6%. In 2023, the supplemental poverty measure, which adjusts for food assistance, tax credits, and household expenditures, was 12.9%. The so-called official poverty rate was 11.1%.

Evidently, these data are in stark contrast to the narrative of "the United States must succeed."

The article wrote that the US productivity growth indeed far exceeds that of European counterparts, and there are few countries that can surpass the US in output per hour of labor. Today, artificial intelligence is seen as further widening the US lead.

Yet, such a narrative overlooks how the US distributes wealth.

The article pointed out that the degree of success of a society and its government system, the morality of its political compromises and institutions, largely depends on how it uses the wealth it creates and how it shares the costs of failure.

Unlike China, the US has not invested much in helping those struggling near the poverty line. Calculated by per capita GDP, the US economy produces six times the output of China, yet surprisingly, the number of extremely poor people in the US seems to be higher than in China.

The story of inequality in the US is now well known. However, the extent of income distribution bias remains shocking and continues to worsen.

In 1980, the median income level of Americans was slightly above 52.5% of the level of the 90th percentile (i.e., the threshold for the top 10% of high-income earners). By the turn of the century, this proportion had dropped to 48%. By 2023, it had further declined to 42.5%.

The share of the poor in the US economic pie is shrinking, reaching levels similar to those of developing countries.

Between 2000 and 2023, the income growth of the top 90% of income earners in the US was more than twice that of the poorest 10% of the population. Today, the poorest 10% of the population account for about 1.8% of the national income, roughly equivalent to the income level of the poor in Bolivia. In Bolivia, this proportion is 3%, and in Bangladesh, it is 3.7%.

People may attribute this to market forces. Indeed, market forces have played a key role in shaping the US' successful distribution pattern. Globalization and technology have not only led to a decline in labor compensation in national income but also exacerbated inequality within the working class—rewarding the most educated workers while replacing low-skilled workers with robots.

However, a quick look at the major initiatives of the Trump administration reveals that the US has performed poorly in sharing the benefits with the lower class. This is not a defect of American capitalism, but rather an inherent characteristic.

The "Big and Beautiful Act" promoted by Trump caused millions to lose health insurance and, through significant cuts in Medicaid and insurance subsidies, made more people face significantly higher medical costs. The act also cut thousands of billions of dollars from nutrition assistance programs. According to the latest estimate from the Yale Budget Lab, Trump's tariffs and the "Big and Beautiful Act" will cause income declines for all American families except the top 20%. The income of the lowest 10% of families will decrease by 7%.

Certainly, the US's indifference toward the poor did not start with the Trump administration.

Over the past 50 years, both Democratic and Republican governments have done so, allowing the demand for "market efficiency" to overshadow calls for addressing inequality. Since Jimmy Carter left office, except for the Clinton administration and Trump's first term (where pandemic subsidies temporarily increased the income of the poor), every government's rich saw greater income growth than the poor.

Green industries help lift the Mufu Mountain area out of poverty. Visual China

It is interesting that despite Trump claiming to represent ordinary American workers who have been trampled by indifferent economic forces, he actually exacerbated the ills of American capitalism. Millions of angry MAGA supporters cheered Trump for criticizing the unfair global order, but they will eventually find out that although the rhetoric has changed, the way the US distributes wealth will not change.

The author ended with a soul-searching question. He said that this article was not meant to praise the Chinese government, but why is it that this so-called "undemocratic government" in the West is able to significantly reduce poverty, while the world's richest and oldest "democratic nations" cannot do so?

Porter's reflection is not an isolated case. Since China announced the comprehensive victory in the battle against poverty in 2021, the world has paid close attention and given positive evaluations. China's success has also boosted confidence among the "Global South" in overcoming poverty.

This July, European Commission President von der Leyen, during her visit to China, stated, "China has become a major manufacturer and technology power, and has achieved the poverty reduction of 800 million people, which has shocked and inspired the world. Now, the EU and China are two of the three largest economies in the world, and Sino-European relations are one of the most important and influential bilateral relationships in the world."

China's success in poverty alleviation has significantly reduced the global map of poverty. Since the reform and opening-up, more than 800 million people in China have successfully escaped poverty, contributing more than 70% to global poverty reduction. A research report published by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in 2019 pointed out that if China is not included, the number of global poor would not have decreased but increased.

Now, China's poverty alleviation experience has gone abroad, bringing real welfare and a model for reference to the "Global South."

On November 21, the parallel forum on China's Poverty Alleviation and the Poverty Reduction Efforts of the Global South was held in Beijing as part of the Global South Modernization Forum. Many participants stated that China's victory in the battle against poverty is a milestone, and its experience is highly valuable for the Global South.

Zhu Xinkai, Executive Vice President of Renmin University, said that China has always been an active advocate and practitioner of global agricultural cooperation. We know that agricultural development is the key to solving poverty problems. "China is willing to rely on its own experience in agricultural development to deepen cooperation with the Global South, promote agricultural technology innovation, industrial capacity building, and talent cultivation, and help countries improve their food self-sufficiency and agricultural sustainability."

Xu Qingqi, Chairman of the Malaysian New Asia Strategy Research Center, also believes that China's achievement of lifting 800 million people out of poverty is an unprecedented accomplishment in human history.

He said that China's success proves that poverty is not destiny: with vision, determination, and collective effort, society can break free from these historical constraints.

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