From Absolute Poverty to Relative Poverty: Theoretical Relationships, Strategic Shifts and Policy Priorities

China will eliminate absolute poverty historically in 2020, but this does not mean the end of poverty reduction. Relative poverty will continue to exist for a long time and will become an important part of poverty alleviation in the future. Absolute poverty and relative poverty are a couple of concepts reflecting the degree of poverty. They are interrelated and coexist, but there are also obvious differences between them. Absolute poverty focuses on survival needs and has the characteristics of absoluteness and objectivity, while relative poverty focuses on lack of opportunities and deprivation of rights, and has the characteristics of relativity, subjectivity, chronicity, and dynamics. China's strategy for eradicating absolute poverty has experienced five stages: ensuring survival, ensuring survival and promoting development, ensuring adequate food and clothing, consolidating adequate food and clothing, building a prosperous society in all respects. However, relative poverty is becoming more obvious. In the future, poverty governance needs to formulate appropriate relative poverty standards, implement differentiated support policies for low-income groups, establish an integrated system of poverty alleviation for urban and rural areas, and pay attention to the regional development of underdeveloped areas, so as to alleviate the relative poverty in rural areas, urban areas, and different regions.