Eradicating extreme poverty is a major achievement, but preventing its return is a governance challenge of an entirely different order.

Around the world, poverty reduction often proves fragile. Economic shocks, illnesses, job losses or structural transformation can push vulnerable households back below the poverty line. The real test is not how many people cross the threshold once, but whether they stay above it.

China now stands at precisely this juncture.

After declaring victory in the battle against poverty and completing a five-year transition period, the country has consolidated those gains. Yet policymakers have made one point unmistakably clear: the end of the transition period does not mean the end of assistance.

That message is embedded in the outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) for national economic and social development. During the poverty eradication campaign, the emphasis was on "targeted poverty alleviation" — a mobilizational approach focused on identifying and lifting households above the poverty line.

But the introduction of "regular and targeted assistance" this year signals a strategic shift in China's poverty governance model.

"Regular" here means institutionalized and long-term. Preventing a relapse into poverty is no longer a transitional measure but a standing task embedded throughout the rural revitalization process. Assistance must be sustained, stable and continuously optimized under overall policy continuity.

This is not symbolism. More than 85 percent of households lifted out of poverty still require industrial or employment support. In some areas, industrial foundations remain weak and endogenous growth capacity is still developing. Stability in fiscal input, financial support and resource allocation is therefore essential.

Crucially, effective mechanisms from the 14th Five-Year Plan (2020-25) period are being retained: the responsibility system under which Party secretaries at five levels take charge of poverty alleviation, east-west collaboration, paired assistance by central government departments, and first Party secretaries stationed in villages.

If "regular" signals durability, "targeted" signals precision across the entire policy cycle. Targeting is no longer limited to identifying poor households but now involves identification, intervention and exit.

Precise identification requires timely screening of populations vulnerable to falling back into poverty, ensuring early detection and early intervention. Dynamic management is central: all eligible individuals must be included, and assistance must be calibrated to actual risk.

Some local practices illustrate how this works. The "five-check approach" — checking grain supply, housing conditions, school attendance, serious illness in the household, and labor capacity — combines quantitative data with qualitative assessment.

Democratic appraisal, follow-up reviews and big data early-warning systems reinforce the process. Guizhou province, for example, has integrated 23 categories of data from 14 departments into a vertically connected monitoring system spanning provincial to township levels, equipped with dual early-warning functions to prevent both omission and misclassification.

This matters because assistance is no longer static. Households that have stably eliminated risk exit the system dynamically. Those who would face renewed risk without support remain covered. The guiding principle is simple: address specific deficiencies with targeted measures.

The nature of assistance itself has changed, with a focus on improving industrial and employment assistance, developing market-competitive industries, and designating national and provincial key counties for rural revitalization assistance.

At the regional level, policy support and resources focus on less-developed areas, particularly key counties. Labor-intensive industries that increase rural incomes are encouraged, often by undertaking industrial transfers from eastern regions.

At the group level, the differentiation becomes sharper. Those without working capacity rely on strengthened subsistence guarantees.

Those with capacity receive development-oriented assistance: skills training, production incentives and labor subsidies. Individuals with limited capacity may be placed in public welfare posts or work-relief programs.

During the poverty alleviation campaign, the "Three Guarantees" — compulsory education, basic medical services and safe housing — focused on ensuring basic access. Today, the emphasis is on upgrading the quality.

Housing moves from structural safety toward earthquake resilience and livability. Compulsory education shifts from preventing dropouts to achieving balanced, high-quality development. Basic medical services, having achieved institutional coverage, aim to enhance service capacity and reimbursement levels.

This is not a minor adjustment. It reflects the transition from eliminating absolute deprivation to pursuing equitable development standards.

If successful, the evolution from targeted poverty alleviation to regular and targeted assistance will demonstrate that poverty governance is not a onetime victory, but a continuous process of calibrated intervention and long-term state capacity.

The author is the director of the China Rural Revitalization and Development Research Center at Beijing Normal University.

The views don't necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

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