Shandong Representative Office

Around 30 million people in China still live below the poverty line of just two US dollars per day. Through its Shandong Representative Office, the Hanns Seidel Foundation makes an important contribution to poverty reduction, greater equality of opportunity and social justice in China’s rural regions. In doing so, we consistently focus on three levels: people, policy and academia

Project Objectives

Our objective is to promote the sustainable development of rural areas in China in order to improve living and working conditions for the rural population while also helping to create a better balance between urban and rural areas. Contributions to spatial justice, procedural justice and intergenerational justice are central to this work.

What we do

Rural poverty remains an important issue in China. Around 30 million people in China still live below the poverty line of less than two US dollars per day, according to the World Bank. Since the beginning of the reform and opening-up policy in 1978, the country has developed highly successful poverty reduction strategies and has helped more than 60 million people escape poverty. However, a purely economic approach is not sustainable in the long term.

To support balanced social, ecological and economic development, the Hanns Seidel Foundation has been contributing structural and methodological experience from Bavaria to its work in China for more than 30 years. In doing so, we consistently focus on three levels: people, policy and academia.

People

We have launched pilot projects in villages in the provinces of Shandong, Sichuan, Jiangxi and Ningxia, embedded within a broader spatial planning framework. Using the approach of integrated rural development, our experts develop individually tailored strategies that contribute in the long term to poverty reduction, a more diversified labour market and overall improvements in living conditions.

A particular focus of our work is citizen participation. Local residents should be actively involved in shaping the places where they live, while taking into account the protection of environmental resources. The insights gained from our pilot projects ultimately benefit not only people in rural areas, but also contribute to sustainable change in policy and academia.

Policy and Administration

Our experience from Bavaria and China is also highly valued at the policy level. Our experts provide advisory support and share their knowledge through delegation visits, seminars and workshops in both countries. Public administrations and political decision-makers are directly involved in the further development and application of the insights gained through our work.

Our cooperation partners at senior ministerial level incorporate this knowledge directly into their standard-setting and regulatory work.

Academia

Knowledge and methodological transfer also takes place at the academic level through international symposia, expert conferences and publications. The Hanns Seidel Foundation participates in China’s academic discourse on rural development and supports exchange and networking among Chinese, German and international scholars.

Representatives from politics and public administration are also invited to take part in academic exchange in order to create an open space for dialogue. The theories and concepts developed through this process, in turn, enrich the work of our political partners and, indirectly, the lives of people in China’s rural regions.