Poverty Eradication in China: Rhetoric versus Reality

China set the ambitious goal of eliminating rural poverty by 2020 during its Fifth Plenary Session of the 18th Chinese Communist Party Central Committee in 2015. Has China reached its goal? In this webinar we hear from Mr. Matthew Chitwood, an American who recently returned from China after living and working in a remote village in Yunnan province for two years. Matthew will provide us with firsthand observations of the effectiveness of the government’s programs and explain how they are transforming the lives of rural residents. He will help us understand if China’s goal has been met and whether the poverty alleviation programs implemented are sustainable.

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Speaker

Matthew Chitwood recently returned from two years in a remote mountain village in Yunnan province where he observed first-hand drastic social and economic change in rural China. Prior to his fellowship with the Institute of Current World Affairs, he developed, managed, and taught for study-abroad programs including CET, CIEE, and Where There Be Dragons. He also worked for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the U.S. State Department’s Critical Language Scholarship Program.

Matthew holds a dual M.A. in China studies and international economics from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), and completed the graduate certificate program at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center. He has written for The New Republic, Foreign Policy, and The American Interest magazines and is currently working on a book based on his fellowship research.

Moderator

Daniel Tam-Claiborne is an associate at BSR (Business for Social Responsibility), a global nonprofit organization that works with its network of more than 250 member companies and other partners to build a just and sustainable world. Daniel works with member companies across multiple industries on human rights, inclusive economy, and women’s empowerment.

Prior to joining BSR, Daniel worked as a management consultant on a portfolio of Fortune 100 technology clients. He has previously worked across the private and nonprofit sectors on social impact and sustainability projects supporting financial inclusion, education access, and freedom of information in East Africa, India, and Haiti. Daniel has spent over three years living and working in China and currently serves on the Board of Oberlin Shansi.

Daniel holds a M.A. in Global Affairs from Yale University, with a concentration in economic development and sustainability, and a B.A. in Creative Writing and East Asian Studies from Oberlin College. He is currently pursuing his M.F.A. in Creative Writing at Warren Wilson College.