Research brief 1: Beyond the goal of eradicating absolute poverty in China: Relative poverty indicators and social security policies

Briefing note | 31 July 2020
Despite the impact of COVID19, China still aims to eradicate extreme rural poverty in 2020 or shortly thereafter. Moreover, China has made clear its commitment to continue an ambitious poverty alleviation and social protection agenda that will in future embrace urban as well as rural poverty.

With a view to contributing to the development of this ambitious agenda, this Policy Brief focuses on relative poverty, first reflecting on the concept and its measurement, then considering how the new definition is likely to change the understanding of poverty and its dynamics in China, and finally, exploring the policy implications of incorporating relative poverty into policymaking.