Explainer: SHIELD behind China's safeguards against poverty relapse

BEIJING, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- After China declared victory in eradicating absolute poverty in 2021, consolidating the gains made and preventing poverty from returning has become a critical task.

The Chinese leadership anticipated this risk and, at the end of 2020, established a five-year transition period dedicated to both consolidating and expanding achievements in poverty alleviation and integrating them with rural revitalization.

The year marks the final year of the transitional period, but the country will not hit the brakes. The 2025 central rural work conference was held Monday and Tuesday in Beijing, calling for coordinated efforts to establish regular mechanisms for preventing rural residents from lapsing or relapsing into poverty.

Here is a review of China's practice and experience, encapsulated in the acronym "SHIELD": systematic and dynamic monitoring, human-centered ethos, industrial development, endogenous empowerment, layered and targeted support, and durable endeavor.

SYSTEMATIC AND DYNAMIC MONITORING

To prevent relapses, China has put in place a long-term mechanism for dynamic monitoring of trends indicating a return to poverty and regular checks on key groups, to ensure early detection, intervention and support.

In a remote village in southwest China's Guizhou Province, Daba, Party secretary Lei Bingchao learned in April 2025 that Yang Xilong, a resident of the village, incurred unusually high medical expenses due to an eye disease.

Within days, a streamlined process -- village verification, township review, and district approval -- had enrolled the family in targeted support, plugging the risk of medical-induced poverty.

The government has woven a vast digital monitoring net that tracks key risk indicators -- sudden healthcare costs, job loss, crop failure-across formerly impoverished households.

While this digital vigilance provides the eyes and ears, a streamlined door-to-door verification process ensures that no family falls through the gaps due to migration or other circumstances.

DeepSeek is also gradually being adopted by various grassroots governments. For example, Shanxin town in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region successfully deployed the DeepSeek model, which not only tracks data but also automatically generates assistance recommendations. This process has improved analytical efficiency by 50 percent compared to traditional methods.

HUMAN-CENTERED ETHOS

The Chinese government treats people at risk of falling back into poverty not as statistical units in a poverty headcount, but as individuals with distinct circumstances beyond their control -- illness, disability, or family tragedy -- that entail a safety net.

This aligns with a central tenet of Chinese modernization, which is viewed as a process centered on the people rather than on capital, as in many Western countries. It also aligns seamlessly with the Confucian ideal of "Ren," which is often translated as benevolence, humanity, or humaneness. This virtue places the well-being of the people as the core responsibility of governance.

"The establishment of a five-year transition period represents another major institutional innovation in the poverty reduction path with Chinese characteristics," stated Professor Hu Wen, vice president of the Sichuan Administration Institute.

She emphasized that this approach not only facilitates sustained support to safeguard poverty alleviation achievements but also provides strategic breathing room to build regularized, long-term poverty reduction mechanisms, stimulate the internal drive of those lifted out of poverty, and enable a gradual, orderly transition toward rural revitalization. This, she noted, is a concentrated reflection of the people-centered development philosophy.

The mechanism's efficacy is reflected in tangible outcomes. By the end of September this year, more than 7 million people identified as at risk of falling back into poverty had received targeted assistance, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

The concurrent efforts have ensured that students from families lifted out of poverty have achieved a dynamic zero dropout rate at the compulsory education stage, and that the participation rate in basic medical insurance has remained stable at over 99 percent. Renovation of dilapidated rural housing and seismic retrofitting of rural homes have progressed steadily, while the rural tap water penetration rate has reached 94 percent.

INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT

The just-concluded central rural work conference stressed the need to cultivate and expand wealth-creating industries in counties and to broaden the channels and methods for farmers to participate in industrial development.

In a garment company in Guizhou, rows of female workers are busy finishing garments. Most of the company's over 400 employees come from households that have been relocated to a nearby residential compound, as part of the poverty-alleviation resettlement initiative.

"The monthly wage averages between 4,000 and 5,000 yuan (about 711 U.S. dollars), and diligent workers can earn up to 10,000 yuan," explains a team leader, Jin Biju. Stable employment close to home has secured household incomes in what was once one of China's most impoverished regions.

More focused efforts are also being made to promote the development of rural specialty industries. Over the past five years, all poverty-stricken counties have developed two to three specialty industries each, with a combined value now exceeding 1.7 trillion yuan.

To sustain development momentum, the government invested a cumulative 850.5 billion yuan in formerly impoverished areas to improve infrastructure and public services, including transportation, water conservancy, education and healthcare.

ENDOGENOUS EMPOWERMENT

Not long ago, in Huawu Village in Guizhou's Qianxi City, locals had to climb over the mountain to reach the outside world. Today, the village has transformed its intricate Miao embroidery, once merely a "fingertip skill," into a vibrant "fingertip economy." Meanwhile, in Zhaojue County, Sichuan's Liangshan Prefecture, the former "cliff village" has become a popular tourism destination.

Natural resources, unique local crafts, and cultural heritage form the latent advantages upon which many lifted-from-poverty areas can build promising futures. They reflect a deliberate, methodical approach called "development-oriented assistance." It combined poverty alleviation with increased confidence and enriched people's knowledge, ultimately strengthening the momentum of endogenous development.

The process of activating internal motivation does more than grant temporary relief. It integrates residents into industry cultivation, employment expansion and self-capacity building. Those with the potential to stand on their own are supported until they can walk steadily on their own.

A report released by Xinhua Institute, a think tank, showed that, as of the end of 2024, 33.05 million individuals from previously impoverished households were employed, a figure that has remained steadily above 30 million for four consecutive years.

Last year, the per capita disposable income of rural residents in counties that had shaken off poverty reached 17,522 yuan, a 24.7 percent increase over 2021. For four consecutive years, income growth in these counties has outpaced the national average for rural residents.

LAYERED AND TARGETED SUPPORT

Instead of applying broad, one-size-fits-all methods, the Chinese government implemented a multi-layered and targeted poverty relief approach to tailor aid to people's unique circumstances.

For those with labor capacity, the focus is on "development-oriented poverty alleviation" -- skills training, job matching, and microloans for small businesses. For the partially capable, there are public welfare jobs. For those beset by shocks such as illness or disaster, specific subsidies for healthcare, housing, education and other areas kick in. For the utterly incapacitated, the social assistance net provides a final, guaranteed floor.

The experience of Luo Linmei, a young woman from Wangmo county in Guizhou, speaks to the tailored responses. Following her father's death, Luo's family was supported through a precise mix of interventions: Her mother secured a public welfare job and subsistence allowances. At the same time, Luo and her sister received educational grants in high school and during university.

"With these measures, my sister and I finished our studies, and our family were saved from falling back into poverty," Luo recalls.

DURABLE ENDEAVOR

Looking ahead, the upcoming 2026-2030 period, China's next national planning cycle, will be the first following the five-year transition period.

According to the recommendations of the Communist Party of China Central Committee for formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030), China will continue to consolidate and expand its achievements in poverty alleviation. Through the establishment of regular mechanisms, increased development assistance, and strengthened policies for key counties in need, every effort will be made to prevent any large-scale lapses or relapses into poverty.

"The bottom line to prevent a large-scale lapse or relapse into poverty must be upheld persistently and permanently after the transition period," said Han Wenxiu, executive deputy director of the Office of the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs. ■