區(qū)域政策。20世紀(jì)末，中國政府開始實(shí)施西部大開發(fā)戰(zhàn)略。中國的西部地區(qū)，自然條件相對惡劣，基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施建設(shè)相對滯后，貧困人口比較集中。十多年來，西部大開發(fā)安排的水利、退耕還林、資源開發(fā)等項(xiàng)目，在同等條件下優(yōu)先在貧困地區(qū)布局；公路建設(shè)加快向貧困地區(qū)延伸，把貧困地區(qū)的縣城與國道、省道干線連接起來；基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施建設(shè)項(xiàng)目盡量使用貧困地區(qū)的勞動(dòng)力，增加貧困人口的現(xiàn)金收入。國家相繼出臺一系列區(qū)域發(fā)展政策，促進(jìn)西藏和四川、云南、甘肅、青海四省藏區(qū)以及新疆、廣西、重慶、寧夏、甘肅、內(nèi)蒙古、云南等地經(jīng)濟(jì)社會(huì)發(fā)展，并把農(nóng)村扶貧開發(fā)作為政策重點(diǎn)加以推進(jìn)。

    農(nóng)村社會(huì)保障制度。為貧困人口提供基本的社會(huì)保障，是穩(wěn)定解決貧困人口溫飽問題的最基礎(chǔ)手段。2007年，國家決定在全國農(nóng)村全面建立最低生活保障制度，將家庭年人均純收入低于規(guī)定標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的所有農(nóng)村居民納入保障范圍，穩(wěn)定、持久、有效地解決農(nóng)村貧困人口溫飽問題。農(nóng)村最低生活保障標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，由縣級以上地方政府按照能夠維持當(dāng)?shù)剞r(nóng)村居民全年基本生活所必需的吃飯、穿衣、用水、用電等費(fèi)用確定。截至2010年底，全國農(nóng)村低保覆蓋2528.7萬戶、5214萬人；2010年全年共發(fā)放農(nóng)村低保資金445億元人民幣，其中中央補(bǔ)助資金269億元人民幣；全國農(nóng)村低保平均標(biāo)準(zhǔn)為117元人民幣/人、月，月人均補(bǔ)助水平為74元人民幣。國家對農(nóng)村喪失勞動(dòng)能力和生活沒有依靠的老、弱、孤、寡、殘農(nóng)民實(shí)行五保供養(yǎng)，即在吃、穿、住、醫(yī)、葬等方面給予生活照顧和物質(zhì)幫助。十年間，五保供養(yǎng)逐步實(shí)現(xiàn)了由集體福利事業(yè)轉(zhuǎn)型為現(xiàn)代社會(huì)保障制度，所需資金由農(nóng)民分?jǐn)傓D(zhuǎn)由國家財(cái)政負(fù)擔(dān)。到2010年底，全國農(nóng)村得到五保供養(yǎng)的人數(shù)為534萬戶、556.3萬人，基本實(shí)現(xiàn)“應(yīng)保盡?！?，全國各級財(cái)政共發(fā)放農(nóng)村五保供養(yǎng)資金96.4億元人民幣。2009年，國家開展新型農(nóng)村社會(huì)養(yǎng)老保險(xiǎn)試點(diǎn)工作，到2011年7月已覆蓋全國60%的農(nóng)村地區(qū)，共有493個(gè)國家扶貧開發(fā)工作重點(diǎn)縣納入試點(diǎn)，覆蓋率達(dá)到83%。新型農(nóng)村社會(huì)養(yǎng)老保險(xiǎn)實(shí)行個(gè)人繳費(fèi)、集體補(bǔ)助、政府補(bǔ)貼相結(jié)合的籌資方式，基礎(chǔ)養(yǎng)老金和個(gè)人賬戶養(yǎng)老金相結(jié)合的待遇支付方式，中央財(cái)政對中西部地區(qū)按中央確定的基礎(chǔ)養(yǎng)老金給予全額補(bǔ)助，對東部地區(qū)給予50%的補(bǔ)助。2010年，中央財(cái)政對新型農(nóng)村社會(huì)養(yǎng)老保險(xiǎn)基礎(chǔ)養(yǎng)老金補(bǔ)貼111億元人民幣，地方財(cái)政補(bǔ)助資金116億元人民幣。2004年，國家出臺了規(guī)范的最低工資制度，對保障以農(nóng)民工為主體的勞動(dòng)者的勞動(dòng)報(bào)酬權(quán)益發(fā)揮了積極作用。

Regional policies. At the end of the 20th century, the Chinese government started to carry out the strategy of large-scale development of the western region. Compared to other regions of China, Western China has rather adverse natural conditions, underdeveloped infrastructure and a larger population of the poor. In the last decade, water conservancy projects, projects of returning cultivated land to forests and projects of resource exploitation, as planned in the strategy of developing the western region, were launched first in poverty-stricken areas, if all other conditions were equal; highways were extended to poor areas at a quicker pace to link up the county seats of poor areas with national and provincial trunklines; the labor force of poor areas was given preference in infrastructure construction projects to increase the cash income of the poor. The government worked out and implemented a series of policies for regional development to promote economic and social development in Tibet and Tibetan-inhabited areas in Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu and Qinghai provinces, as well as in Xinjiang, Guangxi, Chongqing, Ningxia, Gansu, Inner Mongolia and Yunnan, and pushed forward the development-oriented poverty reduction program as a policy priority. 

Rural social security system. To provide basic social security for the poverty-stricken population is the most fundamental way to steadily solve the problem of adequate food and clothing for such people. In 2007, the state decided to establish a rural subsistence allowance system throughout the rural areas that would cover all rural residents whose per-capita annual net household income was below the prescribed standard, so as to solve the problem of adequate food and clothing for the rural poor in a stable, lasting and effective way. The standards of rural subsistence allowance were determined by local governments above the county level on the basis of the fees needed for such basic necessities as food, clothing, water, electricity and other things throughout the year. By the end of 2010, the system covered 25.287 million rural households, totaling 52.14 million people. In 2010, a total of 44.5 billion yuan of rural subsistence allowance was issued, including 26.9 billion yuan of subsidy funds from the central government. The average standard for rural subsistence allowance is 117 yuan per person per month, and the average subsidy is 74 yuan per person per month. The state provides the five guaranteed forms of support (food, clothing, housing, medical care and burial expenses) for old, weak, orphaned, widowed or disabled rural residents who are unable to work and have no family support. During the decade, the government gradually turned these five forms of support from a collective welfare system into a modern social security system financed by the state instead of by the rural people themselves. By the end of 2010, the five forms of support had been extended to 5.34 million rural households totaling 5.563 million rural residents and basically covering almost all eligible rural residents. The public finances at all levels altogether granted 9.64 billion yuan to eligible rural residents for such support. In 2009, the state launched a pilot scheme of a new type of social endowment insurance for rural residents in some places. By July 2011, the scheme had extended to 60 percent of rural China, covering 493 key counties in the national development-oriented poverty reduction programs, accounting for 83 percent of such counties. Under this new type of social endowment insurance for rural residents, the funds needed are pooled from personal contributions, collective grants and government subsidies, and the pensions are paid from the basic funds and personal accounts; the central finance subsidizes central and western China all the basic funds for old-age pensions in line with the standards decided by the central government, and subsidizes 50 percent of such funds for eastern China. In 2010, the central finance provided a total subsidy of 11.1 billion yuan for the basic old-age pension funds of the new social en-dowment insurance for rural residents, while the local finances supplied 11.6 billion yuan for the same purpose. In 2004, the state introduced a standard minimum wage system, which has played a positive role in guaranteeing the rights and interests of laborers, mainly migrant workers from rural areas, with respect to remuneration for their labor.