The Chinese villagers who fear they can never escape the poverty trap

In 2015, China launched a wide-ranging campaign meant to wipe out poverty across China in just five years. The programme was meant to lift the entire population above the poverty line, ensuring every family would have an annual income above 2,300 yuan (US$340) by 2020. The national campaign has made some headway, with official statistics showing the number of rural poor has dropped from 82.39 million in 2012 to 16.6 million at the end of 2018, and another 10 million population on target to…