UNU-WIDER Poverty Reduction in China: Is High Growth Enough?

The slowdown and in some years reversal of poverty reduction in China forcefully demonstrates that growth is not sufficient for combating poverty even if that growth is of unprecedented magnitude. Policy initiatives should take into consideration inequality, especially urban-rural disparity. This Policy Brief provides a summary of the research findings from UNU-WIDER’s project on Inequality and Poverty in China. It also offers policy recommendations for tackling the poverty-growth-inequality inter-relationships in the short- and long-run. In particular, it is suggested that the only long-run policy option for the Chinese government is to encourage urbanization.