Yes, China has lifted nearly 100 million people out of absolute poverty in the past eight years, with official declarations of eradicating extreme poverty by late 2020, part of a larger effort lifting around 800 million people out of poverty since the late 1970s, a monumental achievement in human history, though definitions of poverty (national vs. international) and the role of government vs. individual efforts remain points of discussion.
This led to a dramatic drop in the number of people living in extreme poverty from 770 million (80 percent of the population) in 1978 to 100 million people (7 percent of the population) in 2014.
China's success in alleviating absolute poverty is driven by the country's comprehensive economic reform and tailored poverty eradication work. Since the launch of reform and opening-up in 1978, China has experienced several decades of rapid economic growth.
As of 2020, China has succeeded in eradicating absolute poverty, but not the poverty defined for upper middle-income countries which China belongs to.
Just look at the data: 200 hundred years ago, at the birth of industrial capitalism, there were only about 80 million people in the world who were not living in extreme poverty, meaning $2 a day or less, adjusted for inflation. Today, more than 7.3 billion people are not living in extreme poverty. Why?
The World Bank's calculations suggest China's rate of extreme poverty has plummeted from one of the highest in the world – 88% – in 1981, to virtually zero today, with the fastest gains in the 1980s and 1990s during the capitalist reforms of Chairman Deng Xiaoping.
Capitalism is fundamentally about the endless pursuit of wealth, a way of living Jesus was crystal clear about rejecting: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:25). He taught that we cannot serve both God and wealth (Matthew 6:24).
South Sudan is widely considered the poorest country in the world in 2025-2026, consistently ranking first due to extremely low GDP per capita and a high percentage (over 80%) of its population living in extreme poverty, driven by prolonged civil conflict, displacement, and disruption of its agricultural economy. Other nations frequently cited as among the poorest include Burundi, the Central African Republic, and Yemen, also suffering from conflict and instability.
It has three of the world's top ten most competitive financial centers and three of the world's ten largest stock exchanges (both by market capitalization and by trade volume). China has the second-largest financial assets in the world, valued at $17.9 trillion as of 2021.
South Sudan has the highest poverty rate, with approximately 82.3% of its population living in extreme poverty, largely due to ongoing civil conflict and economic collapse. 2. What are some of the poorest countries in terms of poverty rate as of 2026?
In 1978, Deng Xiaoping, the leader of the Chinese Communist Party, changed the course of millions of lives when he declared, “Poverty is not socialism; socialism means eliminating poverty.” Beginning China's stride to eradicate poverty, Xiaoping focused on boosting China's economy through agricultural and social ...
China poverty rate for 2021 was 21.00%, a 8.5% decline from 2020. China poverty rate for 2020 was. China poverty rate for 2019 was 28.90%, a 3.3% decline from 2018. China poverty rate for 2018 was 32.20%, a 4.1% decline from 2017.
Award-winning analysis reveals how China transformed through "directed improvisation" - combining top-down control with local adaptation to escape poverty in just 35 years using existing resources.
Homelessness exists, but it is made largely invisible through a mix of short-term containment, forced removal, and strict control over reporting. The official narrative of “no homeless in Shanghai” is not a reflection of reality, but rather of how the state manages visibility and information.
Gansu is among the poorest administrative divisions in China, ranking last in GDP per capita as of 2019. The state of Qin originated in what is now southeastern Gansu, and later established the first imperial dynasty in Chinese history.
Eradicating rural poverty through development
Through more than 30 years of rapid economic growth, China has achieved a powerful poverty reduction effect, with pathways including agricultural modernization, the development of township enterprises and the employment of migrant workers.
The richest country by GDP (PPP) per capita is often cited as Singapore, followed closely by Luxembourg, depending on the specific report and year, with Singapore leading in 2025 estimates with around $156,000-$157,000 per person, while Luxembourg is a strong contender just below that, highlighting small, finance-heavy economies as wealthiest per person.
A reflection of China's economy
China's economy has been grappling with a prolonged housing crisis, high unemployment, high local government debt, and weak consumer demand. Those headwinds hit its superrich, too.
In 2024, China's national per capita disposable income reached RMB 41,314 (US$5,734), with real income growth recorded across all income groups.
35 Countries with the Lowest Poverty Rate in the World
As of 2025, poverty in India declined sharply. According to the World Bank report, extreme poverty fall from 16.2% in 2011-12 to 2.3% in 2022-23. In rural areas it fell from 18.4% to 2.8%, and in urban areas, from 10.7% to 1.1%. 378 million people were lifted from poverty and 171 million from extreme poverty.
Capitalism as it exists today is, in my opinion, the real source of evils. I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals.
In essence, give 10 percent of your income, save 10 percent your income and live on 80 percent of your income. Although this budgeting method isn't explicitly stated in the Bible, it serves as a simplified version of the financial teachings found in Proverbs 3:9-10, 2 Corinthians 9:7, Acts 20:35 and Matthew 6:21.
This link was highlighted in one of Marx's early writings, in which he wrote: "As Christ is the intermediary unto whom man unburdens all his divinity, all his religious bonds, so the state is the mediator unto which he transfers all his Godlessness, all his human liberty".