Policy lessons from China's success in poverty reduction and how they can benefit global anti-poverty governance in the agricultural sector - case of Uganda

After the People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949, particularly since 1978 when China introduced the policy of reform and opening-up,China has scored remarkable economic achievements. Over the past 40 years of unswervingly carrying out the reform and opening-up, socialist market economy was gradually established with an open economy and increasing social productivity and national strength. From 1978 to 2015, China’s economy grew at an average rate of 9%, much higher than the world average level,making China the second largest economy in the world.

As the largest developing country, China has made great leaps in reducing poverty and reached the benchmarks laid out in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), lifting more than 700 million of its citizens out of extreme poverty over the last three decades. China has lifted more people out of poverty than anywhere else in the world: Between 1990 and 2005, China’s progress accounted for more than three-quarters of global poverty reduction and is the reason why the world reached the UN millennium development goal of halving extreme poverty.

This incredible success was delivered by a combination of a rapidly expanding labour market, a protracted period of economic growth, and a series of government transfers such as the urban subsidy, and the introduction of a rural pension. China’s poverty reduction approaches include but not limited to poverty alleviation through industrial development, agricultural development, employment transfers, education, medical and health care development,relocation, and through environmental ecological protection.

In a research paper written by Martin Ravallion titled “Are There Lessons forAfrica from China’s Success against Poverty?”, the writer highlighted a number of lessons that can be learnt from China’s poverty reduction strategies and how they can benefit global anti-poverty governance in the agricultural sector with specific reference to Uganda and Sub-Saharan Africa in general.