Up and Out of Poverty

by Xi Jinping

To introduce China's efforts in poverty alleviation, relief and development, share China's ideas and experience with developing countries, Foreign Languages Press publishes the English and French editions of Up and Out of Poverty with foreign readers as its target audience. Up and Out of Poverty is a compilation of Xi Jinping's major works from September 1988 to May 1990 while he worked in Ning De,Fujian Province; it comprises 29 speeches and articles which includes a series of ideas, opinions and methods of economic development, the construction of Party, cultural advancement and talent cultivation. It echoes and inherits the spirits of a series of important speeches Xi Jinping has delivered since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. Focusing on how the eastern Fujian areas could open up and develop, alleviate poverty and become prosperous, Xi Jinping raised numerous creative ideas and thoughts based on the local conditions at that time and led people from the eastern Fujian areas towards prosperity. To name just a few, 'to take economic development as the central task', 'to carry forward the spirit of perseverance', 'to get rid of poverty from one's mind before alleviate poverty' are among such innovative ideas and thoughts.

Genres: China, Politics, Asia

223 pages, Hardcover

Published November 1, 2016

About the author

Xi Jinping (simplified Chinese: 习近平; traditional Chinese: 習近平) is the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, the President of the People's Republic of China, and the Chairman of the Central Military Commission. As Xi holds the top offices of the party and the military, in addition to being the head of state through the office of President, he is sometimes informally referred to as China's "paramount leader". As General Secretary, Xi is also an ex officio member of the Politburo Standing Committee, China's de facto top decision-making body.

Reviews

[Nikos · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is not as redundant as the Governance of China books however since this covers Xi's time as a prefecture-level politician it covers some specific problems and questions that can be quite boring, to be honest. This is especially the case when Xi talks about the number of hectares for forests and fruit trees to be reserved for certain districts in Ningde or how supply-side management and development of commodity economy can work in certain rural areas.

However, there are some key works in the book covering more philosophical questions such as how good governance is the duty of communists, how journalism is to be carried out in a socialist democracy, or how intellectual and cultural progress are to be cultivated as driving forces for poverty alleviation in impoverished areas.

Having said this, all addressed problems still refer to prefecture-level politics in the People's Republic of the late 80s. Whoever expects long essays about the coming dissolution of the Soviet Union and its meaning for the communist world movement will be disappointed. Everyone who wants to get closer insights on municipal politics in the role of poverty alleviation in China of the late 1980s should be pleased to a certain extent at least.

[Chet · Rating 4 out of 5]

see also: https://youtu.be/4jsw69fLR5I

[Guillermo Puyana · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a compilation of Xi Jinping's speeches when he was Party Secretary of Ningde District, Fujian, between 1988 and 1990. It is very interesting because the texts reflect the early years of the political, administrative and ideological formation of the current Chinese President and General Secretary of the Communist Party. The role of ideology in the preservation of the social order, the role of technology as a productive force, the conception of gradual development and the concern about some categories of Western development theory are already evident in those years. There are several references to the Mathew Effect theory in the generation of inequality by the accumulation of benefits in the most benefited and how the disadvantages of the poorest are accentuated. Or the importance he gives to overcoming the autarkic natural economy to lead to a socialist market economy. It is clear that the then leader in formation was not unfamiliar with Western categories. It is worth reading to understand the evolution not only of Xi, but of China and the Communist Party.

[Luís Garcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Huai Yai, China)

[KT · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting collection of essays from Xi Jinping's time as party chief of Ningde (宁德) that shines a light on economic development at the prefecture level