China raises rural poverty line

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Source: AP

China has redefined the level at which people in rural areas are considered poor by raising the official poverty line, despite a booming economy.

A sharp upward revision in the official poverty line, announced by the government on Tuesday, means that 128 million Chinese in rural areas now qualify as poor, 100 million more than under the previous standard.

The new threshold of about $1 a day is nearly double the previous amount. While the revised poverty line is still below the World Bank threshold of $1.25 a day, the change brings China closer to international norms and better reflects the country's overall higher standards of living after three decades of buoyant growth.

The old limit, first set in the 1990s and increased periodically thereafter, focused on the bedrock poor at a time China was still largely rural and impoverished. As the country has climbed toward middle income status, experts from the World Bank and Chinese think tanks have urged the government to raise the threshold to capture more poor Chinese.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/30/china-raises-rural-poverty-line

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Wow, Michele Bachmann (see her comments on China/welfare statism) is really lobbying the Chinese, huh?