To win the fight against poverty is one of the three major battles put forward by General Secretary XI Jinping in the report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. As China greets the historic moment of the 100th anniversary of the CPC, the daunting task we set ourselves to eliminate absolute poverty has been successfully accomplished. On March 10, 2021, the Second Level Party School of Law School and Chinese Language & Culture College of Beijing Normal University jointly hosted the special theoretical study of “the cause of poverty alleviation—sharing of thoughts in the process of helping poverty by law”, and invited LI Zongbo, who has won title of “National Advanced Individual for Poverty Alleviation” and has completed his undergraduate study and master’s studies in the Law School of Beijing Normal University in 2005 and 2011 respectively, as the keynote speaker. More than 100 Party members and activists from the Party branches for teaching staff and student Party branch of Law School and Chinese Language & Culture College attended the lecture.
At the beginning of the meeting, the host XU Shulin introduced the speaker. As a cadre of the secretarial bureau of the Central Office of Governing the Country by Law, LI Zongbo took a temporary post of first secretary in Jianyang Village, Jianqiao Township, Fucheng County, Hebei Province, a designated poverty alleviation county. In here, he used their professional knowledge in the rule of law in Jianyang Village. During his employment in Fucheng County of Hengshui City, he was selected as the outstanding first secretary staying at village by the Organization Department of Hebei Provincial Party Committee.
Comrade LI Zongbo first introduced the purpose, area and main responsibilities of the “first secretary”. Taking the work of “verifying the annual income of local poor households” as an example, he explained the working mode that the “first secretary” and other “poverty alleviation cadres” support and remind each other, and that the ”first secretary” and the “village Party secretary” cooperate with each other and explore together. Subsequently, Comrade LI Zongbo introduced his work, explained the types of “poverty alleviation objects” with the actual situation in Jianyang Village as an example, and introduced in detail the methods and requirements of targeted poverty alleviation work for different types of “poor households” in order to meet the work requirements of the “Six Precisions” in poverty alleviation (precision of target, measures to the household, use of funds, stationing of first village secretary, and effect of poverty alleviation) and that rural poor people are free from worries over food and clothing and have access to compulsory education, basic medical services and safe housing.
Subsequently, Comrade LI Zongbo shared five main measures to help villagers increase their income, including industrial shareholding, developing aquaculture and animal husbandry, encouraging working outside the home, guaranteeing “no insurance and minimum living allowance” for special people, and setting up public welfare posts. He introduced the specific methods of practicing the above methods in the process of preparing fish ponds, pig farms, and building the rule of law square in Jianyang Village. Comrade LI Zongbo also pointed out that relevant government departments attach great importance to “education security, housing security and medical security” and developed specific assessment methods. Poverty alleviation cadres ensured the basic living standards of villagers by “exempting books and fees” in education, “renovating dilapidated buildings” in housing and “increasing reimbursement ratio” in medical care. In addition, he mentioned that the “drinking water security” and that rural poor people are free from worries over food and clothing and have access to compulsory education, basic medical services and safe housing are of equal importance. He shared interesting stories about village cadres protecting people’s interests in accessing to tap water in Jianyang Village. Comrade LI Zongbo also introduced the six major macro tasks carried out by the Ministry of Justice in tackling poverty, including coordinating the Ministry of Water Resources, the National Health and Family Planning Commission, the Hebei Provincial Department of Finance and other state organs, assisting Fucheng County in applying for the national poverty alleviation demonstration county, and donating and helping sales.
After that, LI Zongbo introduced the road of helping the poor by law, enriching the poor by law and building villages by law. Combining with the idea of “adhering to the people as the center” established at the Central Conference on Comprehensively Governing the Country According to Law, he pointed out that people’s sense of gain should be paid attention to in the work of getting rid of poverty. During the construction of the rule of law square, including the rule of law square and the rule of law corridor, many villagers voluntarily gave up their idle homesteads, which impressed LI Zongbo and other poverty alleviation cadres. Thus they strengthened their belief in serving the people firmly. They also set up a rule of law service team to take the initiative to help villagers solve problems. An intelligent platform for law service was built for providing free and high-quality law service for villagers. After a series of explorations to help the poor by the rule of law, Jianyang Village was awarded the National Model Village of Democracy and Rule of Law and the National Model People’s Mediation Committee in March. Comrade LI Zongbo summed up the magic weapon of the rule of law to help the poor, that is, to do a good job in resolving contradictions, raise awareness of rights and obligations, and strengthen legal publicity.
Finally, Comrade LI Zongbo shared his thoughts on poverty alleviation. The comprehensive victory in fighting poverty is achieved under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, and it is the embodiment of the advantages of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics. We should always be grateful, continue to work in a down-to-earth manner, continue to respond to the call of the rural revitalization strategy, and contribute to the country’s modernization drive.
In this lecture, Comrade LI Zongbo vividly narrated his working experience and insights when he was a resident cadre, and shared with attendee the examples of poverty alleviation and hard work in the village. Through the study of this special Party class, the Party members deeply realized the efforts, contributions and achievements of the poverty alleviation cadres in the poverty-stricken grass-roots jobs, deeply felt the process of driving the masses out of poverty and getting rich through the implementation of specific assistance measures, and learned the remarkable achievements made by China in getting rid of poverty. Party members and activists will continue to carry forward their historical missions and social responsibilities and make contributions to the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation in a new era.