China Tries To Censor Data About Nearly 1 Billion People in Poverty::Chinese government censors tried to control discussions about the country’s economy this week.

  • puppy@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    I feel like Technology community is overused for unrelated topics in Lemmy. This article for example should belong to a community like worldnews news or something in that nature.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldB
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    10 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    Internet censors in China worked around the clock this week to suppress online discussions about poverty in the country after an economist revealed nearly 1 billion people were living off less than $300 a month.

    On Weibo, searches for the now disabled hashtag returned a notice reading: “In accordance with relevant laws, regulations and policies, the content of this topic cannot be displayed.”

    In his article for the business outlet Yicai, Li cited data from a 2021 research paper by the China Institute of Income Distribution at Beijing Normal University, which placed the number of people living on less than 2,000 yuan a month at 964 million, or nearly 70 percent of the population.

    Li nonetheless concluded that competent government leadership could enable further economic growth, possibly doubling China’s GDP by 2035.

    “Although 40 years of reform and opening up have greatly improved the country’s comprehensive strength and level of national income, as of today, the fact that we have a large population, few resources and very uneven development is still obvious, and a considerable number of residents are still close to the poverty line,” Wang and Meng wrote.

    At the end of 2020, China’s President Xi declared a “complete victory” over absolute poverty in the country, which Beijing defines as living off 2,300 yuan a year.


    The original article contains 579 words, the summary contains 217 words. Saved 63%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

  • qooqie@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    1 billion people in China living in poverty?? I find that almost hard to believe that’s ~66% of their population

    • Filthmontane@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      That’s because it’s being applied to Western standards. China spends a crazy amount of money on social welfare and government assistance. Minimum wage is around or less than 2000 Yuan a month around the country, yes. But, that’s completely ignoring currency exchange rates and cost of living.

      Cost of living in Shanghai and Beijing are around 4,500 Yuan. Which means a couple or two roommates can live on minimum wage in the biggest cities. Compare that to minimum wage and cost of living in New York City or LA which is $1,280 a month, costing $4,300 and 1,342 a month, costing $5,576 respectively.

      Tldr: how much money you make is only relevant when compared to your cost of living. It’s not hard to live in China on $300 a month.

    • ZooGuru@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      This was my first thought. Seems unlikely. I’d see this just as likely being propaganda.