2019年CRI 习近平牵挂困难群众（在线收听）

Deep in the mountains of central China's Hunan Province lies Shibadong Village. It's where Chinese president Xi Jinping first formulated his strategy of 'targeted poverty alleviation.'

Visiting Shibadong Village in November 2013, the president met a poor family struggling to make ends meet. He posed a question to Shi Qiwen, the head of the household:

—"Do you have enough food to eat?"

—"Yes, we have a granary"

—"What about pocket money? Do you make money raising pigs or sheep?"

—"I raise two pigs..."

At the time, Shibadong Village had a population of less than 1,000 people, and a per capita annual income of less than 1,700 yuan, or 252 U.S. dollars, well below China's poverty line. It was less than one-fifth of the per capita annual income of farmers across the country at that time.

Following Xi Jinping's visit, and the initiation of his poverty alleviation strategy, the villagers of Shibadong were determined to take advantage of its labor force, crop production, breeding industry, Miao ethnic embroidery tradition, and tourism to develop the village.

Shibadong has since not only won the poverty alleviation "battle" but also provided a valuable template for other impoverished areas of the country.

But this fostering of unique industries, while providing a fruitful solution in many cases, is threatened by another challenge - poverty-related illness.

Statistics show that over 40 percent of the registered poor in China have fallen below the poverty line due to illness-related expenses.

During his visit to Zhaojiawa Village in the Lvliang Mountains of Shanxi Province in June 2017, President Xi Jinping dropped in on villager Liu Fuyou. The president sat on the edge of Liu's hard bed, discussed his income and the things that worried him the most.

Liu Fuyou recalls:

"He came to my home and asked many questions. He asked what I spent my money on. I said apart from buying food, 80 percent of the rest was spent on my medicine, and I felt distressed."

Xi Jinping decided that lifting people out of illness-induced poverty should become a major task of poverty alleviation work.

Over 800,000 primary medical and health personnel visited impoverished families, village by village over two months in 2017, defining their most pressing health needs.

Through medical insurance policies and other health services, China managed to lift 5.8 million people, impoverished because of illness, out of poverty last year.

In his 2019 New Year speech, Xi Jinping reviewed further significant progress China had achieved in tackling poverty.

"We have made great strides in our poverty alleviation efforts in the past year. Another 125 poor counties and 10 million poverty-stricken rural residents were lifted out of poverty. We reduced the price of 17 cancer-fighting drugs and included them on our medical insurance list. And we are continuing to tackle the financial strain that can accompany a family member falling ill. My heart goes out to the people living in hardship. I would like to wish all of them and their fellow villagers a prosperous and thriving New Year."

According to government policy, China is aiming to lift all of its people in rural areas above the poverty line — per capita annual income of 2,300 yuan, around 341 U.S. dollars by 2020.

President Xi's stated aim is to help those who used to live in hardship to lead lives of dignity.

For CRI, I'm Huang Yue.

湖南省深山之中有一处村庄，名为十八洞村。正是在这里，中国国家主席习近平首次提出“精准扶贫”战略。

2013年11月，习近平主席来到十八洞村，走进一个贫困家庭。他对户主石奇文提了几个问题。

“吃的饱吗？”

“够吃，我们有粮仓。”

“有零花钱吗？养猪养羊吗？”

“家里养了两头猪。”

那个时候，十八洞村人口不到一千人，人均年收入不足1700元（约252美元），远远低于中国的贫困线。这一收入还不到当时全国农民年均收入的五分之一。

习近平考察十八洞村之后，当地村民响应“精准脱贫”号召，决定充分利用当地劳动力优势、粮食生产、养殖业、毛泽东思想摇篮以及旅游业来发展当地经济。

十八洞村不仅打赢了“脱贫攻坚战”，更给其他贫困地区树立了榜样。

这种方式推动了独具特色的产业发展，在很多方面有了富有成效的成果，但也带来了另外的挑战——因病致贫。

数据显示，中国处于贫困线以下的贫困户中，40%是由于疾病支出过高。

在2017年6月考察山西吕梁洼村时，习近平来到了当地村民刘福友家。主席坐在刘福友的床边，询问他的收入和他最担心的事情。

刘福友回忆道：

“他来到我家，问了我很多问题。问我把钱都花在哪了。我说除了花在吃饭上的钱，八成都用在了医药费上，感觉压力很大。”

习近平决定把因病致贫的困难群众做为脱贫攻坚的重点。

2017年，80多万名医务人员用两个月的时间走访了贫困家庭，一个村一个村地确认他们最迫切的健康需求。

去年通过医疗保险和其他健康服务政策，中国帮扶580万名因病致贫群众成功脱贫。

在2019年的新年致辞中，习近平主席回顾了中国脱贫攻坚取得的卓越成果。

“这一年，脱贫攻坚传来很多好消息。全国又有125个贫困县通过验收脱贫，1000万农村贫困人口摆脱贫困。17种抗癌药降价并纳入医保目录，因病致贫问题正在进一步得到解决。我始终惦记着困难群众。新年之际，祝乡亲们的生活蒸蒸日上，越过越红火。”

根据政府政策，中国的目标是2020年实现农村贫困人口全面脱贫，农村贫困标准为年人均收入低于2300元（约341美元）。

习近平主席的目标是让困难群众能更好地生活。

CRI新闻，黄悦（音译）报道。