China should adjust its poverty threshold to reflect the country’s improved economic realities, experts said, arguing that a large share of its population still struggles to get by.
Beijing has long boasted of having improved the economic conditions of hundreds of millions. While experts recognize the country’s astounding progress, many say Chinese authorities must now measure poverty using the higher threshold applicable to middle-income nations, and not the one designed for low-income ones that Beijing clings to.
Under the higher threshold, almost a fifth of China’s population would be considered to be living in poverty, World Bank estimates showed. “China is now clearly falling short,” a UN economist said.
