Qi Fanhua: Public Policies to Have Positive Effects on Network Poverty Alleviation

Poverty alleviation in China is guaranteed by systems, institutions and personnel, for which a sound systematic guarantee system has been formed. It makes us proud and represents an advantage of the social system. However, China still has a large number of impoverished people, so we have to envisage the arduousness and complexity of poverty alleviation work. In this case, the new central leading collective has raised “targeted poverty alleviation” to a national strategy and perfected relevant top-level design to convoy the strategy. At present, the Internet offers a convenient and efficient implementation platform for targeted poverty alleviation. It is not negligible that the mode of “Internet+ targeted poverty alleviation” requires support and assistance of public policies.

Network poverty alleviation should be supported by public projects.

Poverty alleviation is a public affair and public sectors play guiding and leading role in poverty alleviation work. Poverty alleviation carried out by public sectors should be supported by public projects. Firstly, the state should launch relevant projects, build an information platform for targeted poverty alleviation, collect and sort out information on all poverty-stricken areas and impoverished people and provide big data support for poverty alleviation. Social subjects can obtain accurate and reliable information on impoverished people via the information platformand then provide targeted assistance. Establishment of the information platform allows poverty alleviation work to orderly proceed based on social trust; secondly, grassroots governments should build rural network platforms for poverty alleviation. Grassroots network platforms for poverty alleviation can provide direct services for impoverished people without network equipment or knowledge, which should be supported by public projects; thirdly, the state should set up special projects for poverty alleviation, encourage educational and medical public institutions to apply for poverty alleviation projects, offer help to impoverished people via the Internet, provide better medical security and improve the ability to continuously overcome poverty. This requires synergy among departments concerned such as The State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Tax relief should be provided as an intensive policy incentive for enterprises engaged in network poverty alleviation.

There are various causes for poverty, so it should have diverse solutions. Therefore, poverty governance requires participation by different subjects and public policies should provide intensive incentives for participation by social subjects in poverty alleviation. In fact, General Office of the State Council printed and issued the Opinions on Further Mobilizing All Social Sectors to Participate in Poverty Alleviation and Development early in December 2014, which clearly put forward further strengthening policy support, implementing preferential policies, comprehensively putting into practice preferential tax policies for commonwealth undertakings for poverty alleviation such as pre-tax deduction and tax relief for poverty alleviation donations and relevant supportive policies for various market players to investment and develop in poverty-stricken areas and drive local employment and income increase according to national tax laws and relevant regulations. Enterprises with conditions should be encouraged to set up charitable funds for poverty alleviation on their own. Article 80 of Charity Law of the People’s Republic of China enacted in March 2016stipulates that natural persons, legal persons or other organizations that donate property for charitable activities are eligible for tax benefits. Charitable donations by corporations exceeding the amount deductible from income tax can be deducted from taxable income over the following three years. According to the basic spirit of these documents and laws, more intensive tax incentives can be considered, allowing enterprises and individuals to deduct funds for poverty alleviation from payable taxes, instead of pre-tax deduction. Social subjects should be encouraged to directly invest more in poverty alleviation activities and then the government should launch relevant projects.It can be imaged that Internet enterprises will be moremotivated to establish product trade platforms for poverty-stricken areas and develop APPs for poverty alleviation products. This will activate poverty-stricken areas to overcome poverty and form a good atmosphere where enterprises and individuals actively participate in poverty alleviation.

Public policies should arouse the public goodwill of poverty alleviation.

Besides, poverty alleviation policies should be prepared to arouse the goodwill of the public. Management scientist Drucker believes that the essence of management is to arouse goodwill. That “extend the respect of the aged in one's family to that of other families; and extend the love of the young in one’s family to that of other families” in Chinese traditional culture also advocatesmutual assistance. In network media, incidents where aid comes from all others when a person encounters difficulties often occur. Mutual assistance and love of the public are not only the mass base for us to do poverty alleviation well, but also the public value that public policy makers should advocate and carry forward. Public policies should abandon traditional thinking of control and manager self-orientation in the past, provide convenience for poverty alleviation with love and motivate such behaviors that conform to socialist core value.

Source: http://theory.gmw.cn/2016-12/06/content_23190890.htm